Casteist Remarks: Yuvraj Singh Held, Released On Bail
Oct 18, 2021 | Pratirodh Bureau
Yuzvendra Chahal, left, and Yuvraj Singh, right, were former India teammates (BCCI)
The Haryana Police on Sunday said cricketer Yuvraj Singh was arrested and released on bail in an alleged casteist remarks case in compliance with a High Court order.
Singh was accused of making casteist remarks against another cricketer during an Instagram chat last year.
Yuvraj, 39, had landed himself in the eye of a storm on social media following a casteist remark towards Yuzvendra Chahal while having an online conversation with the Rohit Sharma.
“Ye b****i logon ko koi kaam nahi hai Yuzi ko… Yuzi ko dekha kaisa video daala (these people like Yuzi don’t have anything to do… did you see what kind of video Yuzi shared),” Yuvraj was heard as saying during his live Instagram chat with Rohit. They were apparently talking about Chahal’s TikTok videos.
Superintendent of Police (Hansi) Nitika Gahlaut said over the phone, “We only made a formal arrest and he was released on bail in compliance of the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”
“Yuvraj Singh came to Hansi on Saturday and we made a formal arrest. He was released on bail bond after a few hours,” DSP (Hansi) Vinod Shankar said.
While noting that the Haryana Police is seeking only Singh’s “formal arrest” in the case, the High Court had last week directed that upon joining the probe with the investigating officer, if the cricketer is arrested, he would be released on interim bail upon furnishing bail and surety bonds.
The High Court was listening to a plea by the cricketer seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him earlier this year under sections of the IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on a complaint by lawyer Rajat Kalsan at the Hansi Police Station in Hisar.
Kalsan had filed the police complaint last year, alleging that Singh’s comment had hurt the sentiments of the Dalit community and a large number of people had watched the video on social media.
Expressing regret over the comments, Singh had earlier tweeted, “I understand that while I was having a conversation with my friends, I was misunderstood, which was unwarranted. However, as a responsible Indian I want to say that if I have unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments or feelings, I would like to express regret for the same.”