Given 24 hours to remove derogatory content on Shirdi Sai Baba: Centre to HC
Centre tells Delhi HC it ordered intermediaries to remove allegedly derogatory Shirdi Sai Baba content within 24 hours to protect religious sentiments.
On Thursday, the Indian Centre informed the Delhi high court that it had instructed intermediaries to remove within 24 hours any derogatory and inflammatory content related to Shirdi Sai Baba, warning that such material could upset religious sentiments and spread rapidly if left unchecked. A bench led by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was considering a petition from the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi, demanding the removal of the offending material.
The Centre's legal representative explained that the decision to act was made by the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) on August 13, as mandated by a previous court order requesting a decision within seven days. However, the trust's lawyer noted during the hearing that some videos, including those on YouTube, and 200 URLs remained unremoved. Additional links containing similar content were present on other platforms, all described by the lawyer as derogatory, inflammatory, and communally provocative.
In response to the lawyer's concerns, the court instructed the Centre to investigate further complaints and issue appropriate orders. The case will be revisited on September 7. The petition argued that the content posed a threat to religious harmony and could undermine communal peace. It alleged that the controversial videos had been posted on YouTube in March, despite the trust making multiple complaints to YouTube's complaint system on July 15, 17, and 19, which refused to act, instead advising the trust to either address the uploaders or seek a High Court order.
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