Court directed to remove derogatory video on Ram Rahim Singh
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed journalist and YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh to remove a video about Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh from all social media platforms, finding it prima facie defamatory.
The court gave Singh the liberty to upload a new video with a disclaimer citing the trial court’s verdict on Rahim’s conviction and the contents of Anurag Tripathi’s book “Dera Sacha Sauda and Gurmeet Ram Rahim”.
The order comes in response to a defamation suit filed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The court said that the video contained material based on the trial court judgment and excerpts from the book but did not contain any disclaimer.
Singh was directed to remove the video within 24 hours and allowed to upload a modified version with necessary disclaimers.
During the hearing, Ram Rahim Singh’s lawyer expressed concerns about the global reach of the video and its potential impact on the right to a fair trial, especially given the timing coinciding with Singh’s appeal against conviction.
Singh’s lawyer argued that the video only quoted the trial court judgment and the contents of the mentioned book.
The court directed the removal of the video and provided an alternative of a modified version with necessary disclaimers.
On Monday, the HC had expressed displeasure over a tweet by Singh, saying that out of compulsion, he was putting the video related to Gurmeet Ram Rahim in private mode.
During the last hearing, the court had asked Meera to delete her tweets against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.
On Monday, the court stressed the need to respect the dignity of the court and warned Meera of contempt if she repeats such statements in future.
Justice Jasmeet Singh clarified that the court did not force Mira to make the video private and any such depiction would be considered a serious matter.
The court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 10.
On December 29, 2023, the court had issued a notice to Meera in response to the defamation petition, seeking direction to the respondent to remove her YouTube video alleging that Ram Rahim defrauded his followers. Have given.
In 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly raping two female followers. In 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his employee Ranjit Singh. In 2021, the Dera chief was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist.
Vacation Judge Manoj Jain had directed the defendant (Shyam) to delete the tweets posted by him.
He commented, “While the matter is sub-judice, no more tweets… I want you to be responsible. If he is a journalist, he needs to be responsible. Please don’t tweet anything that brings justice to the country.” Interferes with the distribution system.”
However, the judge did not pass any order directing Meera to remove the video published on YouTube.
Ram Rahim initiated legal action against Mira for a video uploaded on December 17, 2023, titled “How did Gurmeet Ram Rahim fool his devotees?”
Since Mira’s lawyer had sought time to file the reply, the court said it would consider Ram Rahim’s plea for interim directions after the lawyer files the reply.
Earlier, Justice Shalinder Kaur had also issued a notice to the YouTuber, specifying that the notice would be sent through email and WhatsApp, and listed the matter for further hearing on December 30.
Advocate Rajat Aneja, representing Ram Rahim, had argued that Mira refused to remove the video despite receiving a legal notice and had a history of such offences. He cited a post on December 24 by Mira on X, acknowledging the notice but expressing her intention to fight the case in court.
