Delhi High Court Directs Government to Address Offensive Content Against Shirdi Sai Baba
In a significant legal development, the Delhi High Court has instructed the Central government to take decisive action regarding the removal of derogatory and inflammatory content targeting the revered spiritual leader Shirdi Sai Baba. On Tuesday, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma announced her intention to issue a comprehensive order outlining the government’s responsibilities in this matter, including a timeline for action.
The court’s decision comes in response to a petition submitted by the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, which oversees the Sai Baba Samadhi Temple located in Shirdi. The Trust seeks the removal of YouTube videos and other online content that they argue falsely portray Sai Baba as a “Chand Miyan”, “Jihadi”, British spy, murderer, rapist, dacoit, and religious converter, among other defamatory allegations.
The petitioners assert that these materials are not part of any legitimate historical discourse or fair criticism. Instead, they claim the content comprises baseless accusations designed to incite religious tension and communal discord. The plea emphasizes that this “false, inflammatory, offensive and objectionable campaign” is ongoing and not an isolated incident. The offensive content has been consistently uploaded, mirrored, and disseminated through various YouTube channels and anonymous accounts, perpetuating a digital campaign with the potential to stir religious animosity.
According to the Trust, previous complaints lodged with YouTube and Google LLC under the Information Technology Rules were ineffective. These platforms allegedly instructed the Trust to directly contact the content creators or seek legal recourse, rather than adjudicating the authenticity of the claims. Furthermore, grievances filed with the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) have reportedly not resulted in any meaningful resolution.
In its legal plea, the Trust is urging the court to mandate the removal of the harmful content, establish guidelines for addressing material that affects religious sentiments, and revise the grievance submission process to remove current limitations. The petition criticizes the grievance mechanism’s restrictions, specifically its 1,000-character limit for descriptions and the cap of five URLs per submission, which hinder complainants’ ability to present comprehensive grievances.
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The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust is represented by a legal team led by Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, with the assistance of Advocates Saurav Agrawal, Ravi Sharma, Prachi Dubey, Rupraj Banerjee, Satyam Sharma, Harsh Khabar, Tushar Nair, Anusha Sinha, Aarya Bhat, Khushi Arora, and Devangana Mishra.
