[Sexually Explicit Video of District Judge] Delhi High Court directs Social Media platforms to take down all URLs, Posts & Images
The court was hearing a suit seeking a permanent injunction barring the defendants from publishing/re-publishing/telecasting, in any way, a purported video of March 9, 2022, wherein a District Judge is seen in a compromising position with staff in his chamber.
;Justice Yashwant Verma of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the social media platforms namely WhatsApp, Twitter, and Youtube to take down all URLs, posts, or images related to the offending video of a district judge.
The court was hearing a suit seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants, their associates, sister companies, agents, and others from publishing/re-publishing/telecasting, in any way, a purported video of March 9, 2022, that is circulating on various social media platforms and web portals since 29 November 2022.
During the hearing, Advocate Ashish Dixit appearing for the plaintiff informed the court that the high courts' previous orders of compliance had taken place. He further sought a refund of the court fees.
The single-judge bench ordered, “Present suit shall stand decreed with the defendants being required to take down offending URLs opposed pertaining to video dated March 9, 2022, if not already removed, in terms of Injunction of November 30, 2022”.
“In case the plaintiff seeks to bring to the notice of intermediaries of any remaining URLs which relate to the offending video, the request may be independently examined and steps are taken in terms of injunction order if found to be forming part of the subject matter of suit”, the court added. Furthermore, the court ordered that the plaintiff will be entitled to a refund of court fees. Accordingly, the court disposed of the suit.
It is to be noted that Justice Verma on November 30, 2022, had ordered the concerned authorities to take all permissible steps to ensure that the further sharing, distribution, forwarding, or posting of the offending video of the District Judge will be restrained forthwith.
“The defendants shall take all permissible steps to ensure that the further sharing, distribution, forwarding, or posting of the offending video is restrained forthwith. Defendant No.5 (Union) will also ensure that all further steps as are warranted in terms of the communication of the Registrar General dated 29 November 2022 are taken and a compliance report submitted in these proceedings”, Justice Varma had observed.
The single-judge bench had made the observation, keeping in mind the sexually explicit nature of the video's contents and the imminent, grave, and irreparable harm that was likely to be caused to the plaintiff's privacy rights. The suit was taken on urgent mentioning.
On examining the content of the complaint, the court had stated that Section 354C of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, as well as Section 67A of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, would have been violated if further circulation, sharing, and distribution of the video was permitted. Justice Varma was of the opinion that the content distributed to parties and users of the defendants' services, appeared to violate the Legally Acceptable Terms of Use as adopted by them.
Additionally, the court had noted that the full court itself had taken administrative cognizance of the incident, and in accordance with the Resolution passed on 29 November 2022, the Registrar General of the Court had conveyed to defendant No.5 (Union) the need to take appropriate action for blocking the said video across all ISPs, messaging platforms, and social media platforms.
Case Title: AX v. Google LLC & Ors.