Who is Ajeet Bharti? YouTuber faces scrutiny for remarks against CJI BR Gavai after shoe-hurling incident

YouTuber and influencer Ajeet Bharti is facing police scrutiny after a lawyer tried to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.

Many on social media accused him of “openly abusing and inciting people to attack CJI BR Gavai in a YouTube video”.

Who is Ajeet Bharti?

A resident of Begusarai, Bihar, Ajeet Bharti identifies himself as a media personality. He has a YouTube channel. He has nearly 5 lakh X followers and over 7 lakh YouTube subscribers.

On X, he claims to be a journalist and author.

In the past, Ajeet Bharti made news and courted controversies, including over objectionable remarks about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi some months ago.

What's the matter exactly?

Ajeet Bharti and two of his podcast guests allegedly abused CJI BR Gavai and incited people to attack him over “Hindu pride”, as per clips from one of his recent YouTube videos.

As these clips went viral, Bharti shared a video on his X and other social platforms hours after Rakesh Kishore, a 71-year-old lawyer, attempted to hurl a shoe towards CJI Gavai in his courtroom in the Supreme Court in New Delhi on Monday.

In the courtroom, Kishore had reportedly approached the dais, removed his shoe and tried to throw it towards the judges. Alert security personnel present inside the courtroom immediately intervened and foiled an apparent attack.

In the video, Bharti allegedly taunted the CJI and smirked at the incident. He captioned it: “Gavai is a lousy, undeserving judge, and he should face a contempt (of court) case.”

Among other more direct remarks about his Dalit-Ambedkarite background, for instance, Bharti said in the video: “I wanted to make a video about ‘shoes and the Chief Justice’ after seeing his shoes in a photo recently, but could not shoot that one for some reason. Well, it seems ‘shoes’ were sticking to him ever since!"

Was Ajeet Bharti arrested?

But Noida ADCP Sumit Shukla dismissed theories about Ajeet Bharti being arrested when contacted by the Hindustan Times.

Ajeet Bharti also clarified in a post on X, "I am safe and sound. No arrest has happened, no custody. You all don't worry. This is a part of a journalist's life. The relentless thrashing of the leftists will continue."

Earlier, news agency IANS shared a video claiming that YouTuber Ajeet Bharti was questioned by police on Tuesday regarding a tweet commenting on the Chief Justice of India.