In a partial victory for journalist Shyam Meera Singh, Justice Jasmeet Singh of the Delhi High Court, in a hearing on Jan 10, 2024, ordered the removal of the video from all social media platforms within 24 hours but permitted him to upload a fresh video with a disclaimer stating that the ‘offending’ portions and quotes are from judgments and the book.
Accordingly, a fresh video with the same content as before was uploaded on Youtube with a disclaimer:
According to a report on the hearing, the judge said:
“What he is saying is that he is quoting a judgment, quoting contents of a book. If you want, I’ll tell him to delete the video and add a disclaimer that you have quoted from such and such judgment and such and such book and that it is not my personal views. What else do you want him to say? I cannot if he is quoting a judgment or a book which you have not taken any action on… What’s so wrong?,” Justice Singh.
Singh told FSC that he was relieved that the judge upheld the contents of his video, which was based on published accounts. By deleting the original video, he had lost viewers (the video had gained more than 500,000 views) but at least now the video would still be up for view.
Singh faced a civil defamation case from Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda, who is convicted for rape and murder.
More details on the case here
