Delhi High Court Restrains Satlok Ashram from Spreading Deceptive Videos of Sadhvi Deepika Bharti

In a major relief to Hindu Scholar Shadhvi Deepika Bharti, the Delhi High Court has restrained the Satlok Ashram Foundation and others from sharing morphed, misleading, and infringing videos of the preacher, who is linked to an organisation founded by Shri Ashutosh Maharaj Ji.

A bench led by Justice Amit Bansal, in its order, observed, "A prima facie case is made out on behalf of the plaintiffs. Balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants. In light of the aforesaid analysis, till the next date of hearing, defendants No. 1 to 5 are restrained from creating any fake and morphed videos and from using any content owned by the plaintiffs.”

The judge noted that the manipulated videos were likely to mislead the public into believing that the preacher had endorsed Sant Rampal Singh, founder of the Satlok Ashram.

Court was hearing a plea filed by Sadhvi Deepika Bharti seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction against the Ashram and those responsible for its administration, restraining them from posting, publishing, circulating, or uploading morphed and misleading content owned by her, along with other ancillary reliefs.

Notably, Shaadvi Deepika Bharti, Plaintiff No. 1, is an Indian Hindu scholar and a sanyasi disciple of Shri Ashutosh Maharaj Ji, who founded Plaintiff No. 2 organisation. She is also a preacher at Plaintiff No. 2 organisation.

On 28 June 2025, the plaintiff organisation came across a video posted by Defendant No. 2, in which the original footage of Shadhvi speaking about the coming of the ‘Kalki Avatar’ in reference to Shri Ashutosh Maharaj Ji was manipulated. The infringing video inserted photographs of Shri Rampal Singh, founder of Satlok Ashram Foundation, to make it appear as though Shadhvi was referring to Shri Rampal Singh as the ‘Kalki Avatar’.

As per the plaintiffs, this had been done with the intent to cause confusion and deceive the public at large. According to the plaint, the infringing video was misleading the public into believing that the Shaadvi was associated with Shri Rampal Singh and the defendant organisation, and that she had referred to him as the ‘Kalki Avatar’, a claim the plaintiffs contended was wholly untrue and highly defamatory.

Advocate Raghav Awasthi, appearing for the plaintiffs, argued that the videos were false and defamatory, created with the intent to deceive the viewing public into believing a non-existent association between Plaintiff No. 1 and Defendant No. 1 organisation.

Finding that a prima facie case had been made out, the High Court ordered:

Defendants No. 6 and 7 are directed to take down the videos/links of Defendants No. 1 to 5, as mentioned in paragraph 20 of the plaint, within 24 hours.

Defendants No. 6 and 7 shall disclose the basic subscription information of the uploaders of the impugned videos/links within three weeks.

Compliance with Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, is to be filed within three days, with the necessary affidavit filed within one week thereafter.

The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on 6 October 2025 and before the Court on 28 January 2026.

Case Title: Sadhvi Deepika Bharti & Anr. v. Satlok Ashram Foundation & Ors

Order Date: 1 August 2024

Bench: Justice Amit Bansal