Delhi HC seeks Centre’s response on plea to remove videos targeting Sai Baba

The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre's Grievance Appellate Committee to consider a complaint seeking removal of allegedly inflammatory and derogatory YouTube videos targeting Shirdi Sai Baba. The court also sought responses from MeitY, GAC and Google LLC.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee to consider the complaint seeking removal of certain allegedly inflammatory and derogatory YouTube videos targeting Shirdi Sai Baba.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) and Google LLC, and sought their response on a fresh application by the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi seeking further removal of objectionable content against Shirdi Sai Baba.

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The high court, which had earlier directed GAC to decide within seven days the issue of removal of alleged objectionable videos, was informed by the Centre’s counsel on Thursday that an order had been passed by GAC on August 13 directing removal of videos and articles.

However, senior advocate Pramod Dubey and lawyer Prachi Dubey, representing the petitioner trust, contended that the entire material had not been taken down and some videos and articles were still there.

Pramod Dubey also read out the findings of GAC, which said “the impugned content has the tendency to hurt religious sentiments detrimental to communal harmony and if allowed to continue in this manner, it will soon spread like a pandemic with wide uncontrollable repercussions”.

The court listed the matter for September 7 and said that “in the meantime, if any further fresh complaint is filed, the appropriate authority will look into it”.

The petitioner has alleged that certain YouTube videos contain “false, defamatory, inflammatory and derogatory allegations” against Shirdi Sai Baba as well as the trust, but the platform has refused to take them down.

The petitioner has said that despite approaching various authorities, including the GAC established by the Centre under the information-technology regime, the content continues to remain accessible, hurting the religious sentiments of devotees and violating their rights under Article 25 of the Constitution.

In the petition, the trust has said it is the governing and administrative body of the Shri Sai Baba Mahasamadhi temple, and in or around March, it became aware of the publication of a series of “coordinated videos” on YouTube containing “grossly-derogatory, historically-false, inflammatory and communally-provocative allegations concerning Shri Sai Baba and the petitioner”.

It has alleged that these videos falsely accuse the trust of deceiving devotees, manipulating religious history and perpetuating a false religious narrative, and seek to create a “continuing and concerted digital campaign” to generate religious hostility and communal disharmony.

After detailed complaints to YouTube under the Grievance Redressal Mechanism in the Information Technology Rules did not provide effective redressal, an appeal was preferred before the GAC on July 29, the plea has said.

It has also said a comprehensive representation was sent to MeitY.

The plea has informed that YouTube refused to remove the content on the grounds that it is “not in a position to adjudicate upon the veracity of postings and does not remove video postings upon allegations”, and asked the petitioner to either approach the uploaders directly or the court.