A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan has upheld the blocking of a contemnor’s social media accounts after finding that videos uploaded by him contained prima facie contemptuous allegations against a sitting Judge and the judiciary.
The Bench also took cognizance of the alleged contempt under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and directed the Registry to issue a show-cause notice on why contempt proceedings should not be initiated.
The proceedings arose from a contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) concerning three videos allegedly containing accusations of corruption and collusion involving sitting Judges, government agencies and other entities. The videos also allegedly described a sitting Judge as a “real criminal”, “murderer” and “habitual offender”, and accused the Judge of favouring corporates, engaging in quid pro quo and influencing lawyers to withdraw petitions.
The contemnor sought recall of the June 8, 2026 order blocking all his social media accounts, arguing that the direction was excessively broad and that only the specific videos should have been removed. The DHCBA maintained that the required consent of Standing Counsel (Criminal) Sanjay Lao and supporting affidavit had been duly filed. The Court examined the record and rejected the objections.
The Bench placed particular emphasis on a third video allegedly uploaded after the contemnor had received advance notice of the contempt petition. In it, he allegedly urged viewers to download the videos before his accounts were blocked and indicated that he would create new accounts to continue uploading similar content. The Court held that this conduct justified blocking all his social media accounts.
The Court reiterated that legitimate criticism of judicial orders is distinct from allegations attributing corruption, criminality, collusion or improper motives to judges without basis.
It noted that the three videos were no longer available online and that Meta Platforms, Google, X Corp and LinkedIn had confirmed blocking or removal of the identified URLs. The Court directed that any subsequently discovered URLs containing identical or substantially similar versions of the videos be brought to the Registrar General’s notice for removal within 24 hours.
Having found the videos prima facie contemptuous, the Court took cognizance under Section 15 and directed issuance of a show-cause notice under Rule 10 of the Contempt of Courts (Delhi High Court) Rules, 2025.
The contemnor has been granted two weeks to file a reply. The matter has been listed for hearing on September 7, 2026, at 2:30 PM.
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