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Harshendra Kumar D, the brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade, has obtained an ex parte injunction to delete/de-index a staggering 8,842 links on the coverage of the allegations made by a sanitation worker that he has buried several bodies in Dharmasthala. These links include coverage by newspapers, TV channels, websites and YouTubers. Several tweets, Facebook posts and Reddit threads by individuals too have been mentioned in the petition filed by Harshendra.
The court has also issued an injunction order restraining the publishing, circulating, forwarding, uploading, transmitting and telecasting any defamatory content and information against Harshendra, his family members, institutions run by the family of the plaintiff and Sri Manjunathaswamy temple, Dharmastala, either in digital media, including YouTube channels, all social media, or print media of any kind, until the next hearing.
Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai of the 10th Additional City Civil & Sessions court said that the court was fully satisfied that the plaintiff had made out a strong prima facie case for the grant of ex parte orders. “Further, the balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and irreparable loss and hardship would be caused to the plaintiff if an order of ex parte temporary injunction is not granted,” the order said. Though Harshendra has named 338 organisations and individuals in his petition, he insisted on a John Doe order, which was granted by the judge. A John Doe order means the gag will apply to named and unnamed parties.
The petition was filed by Harshendra on July 18 and the injunction order was given on the same day.
Media houses across the country have been reporting on the complaint made by the sanitation worker as well as the surrounding legal processes emerging from it. In his complaint, the sanitation worker said he worked for the temple, but he had not named anyone in particular as being responsible for any crime. However, he had mentioned ‘supervisors’ had threatened and coerced him to bury the bodies.
A John Doe order of a similar nature had been obtained earlier by the employees of the Dharmasthala temple.
Harshendra has listed 8,842 links, including 4,140 YouTube videos, 932 Facebook posts, 3,584 Instagram posts, 108 news links, 37 Reddit posts and 41 tweets. Five videos produced by The News Minute, including two of the ‘Let Me Explain’ episodes, have been named in the injunction order.
The list of respondents includes Third Eye, Dhoota, Sameer MD and DTox, who have put up YouTube videos. Some of the media organisations on the list are The News Minute, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Times of India, Indian Express, Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, Hosa Digantha, Bangalore Mirror, Udayavani, Dinamani, Dina Thanthi, Dinakaran, Samyukta Karnataka, Vijayavani, Vishwavani, News 18, Kerala, Kerala Kaumudi, Rajasthan Patrika, EeSanje, Sanjevani, Dinasudhar, Sanmarga, Hindustan Times, PTI, ANI and IANS, Mathrubhoomi, Malayala Manorama, News 18, Kerala Kaumudi, TV9 group, India TV, News X, News18, Suvarna, News First and Daiji World TV.
In his petition, Harshendra argued that Shri Manjunathaswami Temple, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, the institutions run by the Educational Society, the organisations established by Dharmasthala Temple, elder brother of plaintiff D Veerendra Heggade and family members were being affected by ‘false, fabricated and concocted’ material published by media houses.
“I submit that the invaluable good reputation of the plaintiff, his elder and his family members, the temple and the institutions run by them will be affected if any reckless allegations are made against them without any basis,” the petition said.
Harshendra asked the judge to stop any mention of Harshendra, his family members, institutions run by his family, and Sri Manjunathaswamy temple, Dharmasthala, either in digital media, including YouTube channels and all social media, or print media of any kind until the next date of hearing.
Granting the order, the judge said, “The Court cannot ignore the fact that though the reputation of every citizen is very important, when an allegation is made against the institution and temple, it affects a wider range of people, including the employees and students who are studying in various colleges and schools. Therefore, even a single false and defamatory publication would seriously affect the functioning of the institutions.”
Third Eye, a YouTube portal named in the petition, has approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the order violates freedom of expression and has sought to have it quashed.