Making it clear that communication with Pakistani nationals or dissemination of sensitive information was not prima facie established, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to a YouTube vlogger accused under the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj passed the order after hearing counsel for the parties and taking into consideration facts and circumstances of the matter, including “arguable issues” that would arise regarding the commission of offence as alleged, and lack of readily available corroborative material at the current stage indicating direct/remote communication, transmission of sensitive information or any overt act indicative of culpable intent.Justice Bhardwaj also took note of 10 months of actual custody period already undergone and his clean antecedents. The order came on the regular bail plea filed against the State of Punjab and other respondents in an FIR registered on June 3, 2025, at State Special Operations Cell police station in Mohali.The FIR was registered on allegations that Jasbir Singh of Ropar district, stated to be a YouTube vlogger and running a channel “Jaan Mahal”, had visited Pakistan on multiple occasions and was allegedly in contact with the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.It was further stated that Jasbir, in connivance with certain unknown accomplices at the behest of ISI agents, was engaged in passing sensitive information relating to activities within India, including movements of the Indian Army. It was also alleged that he maintained contact with several Pakistani nationals and was carrying out such activities under the guise of operating his YouTube channel.Petitioner’s standAppearing before Justice Bhardwaj’s Bench on the petitioner’s behalf, senior advocate P S Ahluwalia and counsel Deepinder Singh Virk contended that he was arrested on June 3, 2025, and had undergone actual custody exceeding 10 months. It was argued that he was a vlogger regularly uploading content on his YouTube channel and Instagram page, and the initiation of proceedings arose out of content posted on his YouTube channel “Jaan Mahal”.Court’s findingsJustice Bhardwaj asserted the State could not dispute that the petitioner had been operating a YouTube channel with a substantial number of travel and vlog-related videos uploaded over time. “From the retrieval of the petitioner’s mobile data, no chats, messages or communication have been recovered, at this stage, as would reflect that he was in contact with any Pakistani national,” the court observed.Justice Bhardwaj added that the State also did not dispute that the uploaded content did not pertain to any classified or restricted material. The court observed that “prima facie, the videos in question appeared to be of locations and subjects that are accessible to the general public and no material has been placed on record to demonstrate that the petitioner had access to, or disseminated any sensitive or confidential information.”Bail grantedThe petitioner was ordered to be released on regular bail, subject to furnishing bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court. The court, however, imposed a condition that the petitioner “shall not extend any threat and shall not influence any prosecution witness in any manner directly or indirectly,” and clarified that the observations would not affect the merits of the trial.