A court in Surat on Monday issued a bailable warrant against filmmaker-actor Anurag Kashyap after he did not appear before it in a case over his alleged offensive remarks on social media against the Brahmin community last year. The matter will be heard again on December 24.
Court issues bailable warrant against Anurag Kashyap
According to the PTI report, additional Chief Judicial Magistrate JV Chauhan passed the order and listed the case for further hearing. The 54-year-old filmmaker, known for directing ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and ‘Black Friday’, had not turned up in court even after summonses were issued to him, including one published in a newspaper.A bailable warrant allows an accused person to secure release by furnishing bail as specified by the court.
How the case began
In May, the court directed that a case be registered against Kashyap under sections 192 (promoting enmity between different groups), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace) and 352 (2) (circulating false rumours) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. This followed an application by lawyer Kamlesh Raval, who is a legal advisor to Hindutva outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.Raval said the court issued the bailable warrant after Kashyap stayed absent again on Monday. Explaining the sequence of events, he said, “We initially filed an application and requested his presence (in court) for verification, but he failed to appear. The trial court subsequently initiated proceedings against him. A summons was then issued, yet he did not show up. The court directed that a public summons be published in a newspaper. We arranged for this to be printed in a prominent newspaper (in its Mumbai edition), but he still failed to appear.”
What the complaint alleges
The complaint relates to a post Kashyap made on April 16, 2025. The applicant claims he put out “an objectionable message on social media (X) that cast a slur upon the entire Brahmin community.”According to the plea, a person named Aaditya objected to the post, and the filmmaker replied angrily, asking “what have you achieved by being a Brahmin?” Raval claimed that Kashyap, through these comments, attempted “to disparage the Brahmin community, and this post constitutes an insult to the entire Brahmin community.”The petitioner also argued that such a statement could promote enmity between religious and caste groups across the country. He added that Kashyap is an actor, director and producer whose films influence people of all age groups, and that his follow-up post showed an attempt to disturb a peaceful atmosphere.Kashyap’s tweet was reportedly a reaction to objections raised by two outfits, Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Samaj and Vipra Sena, over certain portions of the Hindi film ‘Phule’ after its trailer was released.Raval further claimed, “The statements made by the accused have defamed the entire Brahmin community and promoted animosity between different communities in India. His actions constitute an attempt to disrupt India’s national unity and disturb peace and harmony.”
Kashyap had apologised earlier
Days after the controversy erupted, Kashyap had apologised to the Brahmin community. He admitted that he had crossed a line by using abusive language while replying to someone in anger.In a statement on Instagram in April 2025, the filmmaker said, “I sincerely apologize to this community to whom I did not want to say this, but wrote it in anger while responding to someone’s cheap comment. I apologise to all my friends, my family and the (Brahmin) society for my way of speaking and for the abusive language.”The allegations are those of the complainant, and the case will now proceed when it comes up for hearing on December 24.
