The Supreme Court has dismissed the bail plea of Haryana YouTuber Jyoti Rani alias Jyoti Malhotra — arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan and sharing sensitive information with operatives of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment and order of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh rejecting the petitioner’s (Jyoti’s) application for bail; hence, the special leave petition is dismissed,” a Bench led by Justice Dipankar Datta said in its June 5 order.
Terming the charges against her as “very serious,” the Bench – which also included Justice Satish Chandra Sharma — dismissed her petition challenging the March 7 order of the Punjab and Haryana high court denying her bail.
The high court dismissed her bail plea, saying the material on record disclosed a prima facie case against the YouTuber.
Her counsel urged the top court to release her on bail, contending she was a travel blogger whose work and online activities were open, public and transparent and that there was no concrete evidence to prove she spied for any foreign country.
However, the Bench chose to dismiss her bail plea, noting that national security considerations had to be given due weight.
As her counsel submitted that she had been in custody since May 16, 2025 and had no criminal antecedents whatsoever, the Bench said these points would be examined during the trial.
The Bench took note of the fact that she had visited Pakistan and met Pakistani officials to conclude that no case for grant of bail was made out.
Jyoti – who ran a YouTube channel ‘Travel-with-Jo’ — was arrested by the Haryana Police on May 16, 2025 for allegedly sharing confidential sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives. She has been booked under various provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The police alleged that since November 2023 she had been in regular touch with Pakistani High Commission employee Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish who was expelled from India in May 2025 after being declared a persona non grata by the Indian Government.
The investigators were examining her communications, travel records and alleged connections with ISI agents.
