Delhi Police registered an FIR under the SC/ST Act against YouTuber Ajeet Bharti following remarks about Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad during an August 22 YouTube broadcast. The complaint, filed by the Azad Samaj Party, alleges casteist and abusive statements, while Bharti has dismissed the case as pressure-driven and vowed to cooperate.
The YouTube Broadcast and the Police Complaint at North Avenue
The legal action against reservation-reform activist Ajeet Bharti stems from an online video published on August 22, 2026, at 10:11 pm. According to reports, the Delhi Police registered the case at Delhi’s North Avenue police station following a formal complaint lodged by the Delhi unit president of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) on Sunday. The broadcast in question, titled SB79: Reservation Hatao Andolan Nautanki & More | Saptahik Bakaiti, drew approximately 23,100 views and featured commentary on the ongoing demonstrations regarding caste-based quotas.
The complaint details a continuous sequence of remarks concerning Scheduled Caste communities, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who is founder of the Bhim Army and a leader from the Jatav community. Investigators recorded that the digital material included screenshots and platform data demonstrating public circulation on a verified X account (@ajeetbharti) and a YouTube channel, with the complaint requesting the investigating agency to obtain original platform records, URL/permalink, account information, upload data, metadata, views, comments, and reposts directly from the platform concerned.
Charges Under the SC/ST Act and Information Technology Provisions
Authorities booked Bharti under several stringent legal provisions. The charges encompass sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, alongside provisions relating to promoting enmity between different groups, criminal intimidation, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Most offences under the SC/ST Act are non-bailable, placing the digital commentator under immediate legal scrutiny as investigators examine platform records, metadata, and audience comments, with a police officer stating that an investigation has been initiated and that Bharti may be called for questioning soon.
The complaint stated that the video and screenshot have been submitted as prima facie electronic evidence identifying the account and establishing the public circulation of the material.
Ajeet Bharti Defends His Broadcast and Dismisses the Case
Following the police filing, Bharti pushed back against the allegations while denying using a casteist word against Chandrashekhar Azad. He contended that his commentary was a direct reaction to a live-chat comment that said, Ajeet Bharti, get your sister married to MP Chandrashekhar and reservation will end,
to which Bharti responded that he would not get his sister married to a fool like Chandrashekhar.
Bharti further invoked BR Ambedkar’s marriage to a Brahmin woman, saying the Dalit-rights champion had earned his degrees without reservation, and called those commenting against him a bunch of idiots
while saying, I am going to teach you this everyday.
Characterizing the police action as pressure-driven, Bharti asserted that the case won't survive two minutes in court
while confirming his intention to cooperate with police.
Wider Mobilisation Behind Quota Reform Protests
The legal dispute unfolds against a backdrop of intensified demonstrations regarding reservation policies in the capital and across various states. Ajeet Bharti is among the influencers who amplified online campaigns to reform caste-based reservations and the now-stayed UGC equity regulations, which he said unfairly targetted the upper-castes
. Bharti had also attended and addressed protesters at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar during an August 21 demonstration called by the Reservation Reform Andolan led by NEET aspirant Harsh Dubey. Demonstrators gathered to demand changes to the reservation system, arguing that benefits should be based on economic circumstances rather than a blanket caste-based framework, following mobilization that gathered momentum over several weeks and preceded the CJP protests culminating in Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
At the Jantar Mantar protest, Ajeet Bharti called for a government white paper on evaluation of the impact of reservations, sub-categorisation within quotas and the application of a creamy-layer principle. Anti-reservation demonstrations subsequently spread to several states, including Karni Sena-led protests in Rajasthan’s Jaipur where hundreds of supporters gathered against the UGC equity regulations stayed by the Supreme Court, with Karni Sena members also joining the August 21 Delhi demonstration. Political friction has escalated correspondingly as Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party has been among the political voices critical of the quota reform movement and its demands, while NDA ally and Union minister Chirag Paswan hit back, saying reservation wasn't a charity
.
