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Justice N Sathish Kumar of Madras High Court has restrained the Tamil Nadu police from filing chargesheet against YouTuber Karthik Gopinath, the Hindu reported. Court has however permitted the police to carry on with its investigation.

Gopinath was arrested on May 30 for allegedly swindling Rs. 34 lakh from the public to renovate temple statue.

It was alleged that Gopinath sent an application to the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department for permission to renovate the statutes with his own funds. However, before receiving approval, Gopinath began collecting funds from the public.

He was granted bail by the Poonamallee Court in Chennai on June 8, 2022.

Gopinath had filed a petition before High Court for quashing the FIR against him.

Earlier, Justice Kumar, before whom the case was listed, sought the details of Gopinath’s bank accounts and adjourned the matter till June 13. However, as the police had not furnished the details sought by the court, the judge passed an interim order.

The Hindu has reported that Gopinath’s Advocate Raghavachari argued that police have not been able to produce any document to substantiate their claims.

It was further argued that this in itself is a proof that Gopinath was arrested without any evidence. Raghavachari added that all proceedings post filing of the FIR must be stayed.

The public prosecutor retorted to Raghavachari’s argument, by stating that the police would not be able to collect any evidence if the investigation is stayed.