The Delhi High Court directed the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) to decide within 10 days an appeal filed by the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi, seeking removal of allegedly derogatory and inflammatory content concerning Shri Sai Baba from YouTube and other digital platforms. A detailed order is awaited.
The Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that the statutory appellate mechanism should first consider and decide the Trust’s pending appeal.
The writ petition, filed by the Trust through Advocate Prachi Dubey, stated that despite invoking the grievance redressal mechanism under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and approaching the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as well as the GAC, the allegedly objectionable content continued to remain available online.
The petition seeks directions for removal of publications alleged to be offensive and inflammatory and capable of promoting religious hostility. It also seeks consequential reliefs against the authorities for their alleged failure to discharge their statutory obligations.
Appearing for the Trust, Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey submitted that several grievances had been lodged before YouTube, followed by a representation to the Ministry and an appeal before the GAC. However, no effective action had been taken, he argued.
Counsel also referred to responses from YouTube stating that the platform would not remove content merely on allegations of illegality and would comply with orders issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The Court accordingly directed the GAC to dispose of the appeal within 10 days. It further clarified that if the Trust remained aggrieved by the decision, it would be at liberty to approach the High Court again.
The Court indicated that a detailed order would be passed separately.
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