A court in Surat has ordered the registration of a criminal case against filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap over his social media remarks concerning the Brahmin community.
The order was passed on Saturday, 16 May 2026, by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) A S Jani, which partly allowed a private complaint filed by advocate and Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Kamlesh Raval, as reported in The Print.
The court observed that there was reason to believe the social media content had been made viral by the accused in a manner that allegedly defamed a particular community.
Based on the complaint, the court directed police to register a case against Kashyap under sections 196, 352 and 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. These provisions relate respectively to promoting enmity between groups, intentional insult intended to provoke breach of peace, and circulating false information.
According to the complaint, Kashyap had made “objectionable” remarks on X targeting the Brahmin community. The complainant, who belongs to the Brahmin community, alleged that the filmmaker’s posts amounted to defamation of the entire community.
The complaint further alleged that Kashyap’s reply to another social media user objecting to his earlier comments was also offensive and intended to insult Brahmins collectively.
As per the complaint, the controversy began after the All India Brahman Samaj objected on April 16 last year to the trailer release of the Hindi film Phule. The complainant alleged that Kashyap reacted by posting comments on X denigrating the Brahmin community and continued making similar remarks while responding to criticism online.
In the complaint submitted before the court, Raval argued that the posts could potentially create hostility between communities and castes. He also contended that Kashyap, being a public figure involved in cinema, wielded significant influence over audiences across age groups.
The complaint additionally referred to an earlier social media post allegedly made by Kashyap on 8 January 2020, in which he had reportedly posted objectionable remarks against Hindus and accused the Union government of being “casteist” and possessing a “criminal mentality.”
According to Raval, multiple summons had been issued to Kashyap during the proceedings, but the filmmaker allegedly failed to appear before the court. He claimed that a non-bailable warrant had subsequently been issued against Kashyap after repeated non-compliance.
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