On Judicial Officer's "'Explicit Video", Government Says It's Taken Down

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) on Friday told the Delhi High Court that it had complied with its November 30 order, to ensure that a purported video of a judicial officer is taken down at the earliest.

It further informed the court that all URLs of the video in question had also been blocked.

"The November 30 order in which the court had directed the Centre to ensure that the offending video is taken down immediately has been complied with," the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) submitted in its response to the Delhi High Court.

"The intermediaries have taken down the video and blocked the URLs. Google has processed for removal of URLs as identified. Twitter has also taken action against URLs," the ministry said.

It further informed two Facebook URLs of the video have also been blocked.

However, Whatsapp said that it cannot pull down private chats unless it is provided with specific phone numbers, the ministry informed.

Justice Yashwant Varma on Thursday, while posting the matter for further hearing on February 8, 2023, asked Ashish Dixit, the lawyer representing the plaintiff, to provide the phone numbers based on which WhatsApp can take action.

On November 30, the court set an injunction against the circulation of the purported video in which one of the court staff and the judicial officer are allegedly seen.

The court in its order restrained circulation, further sharing and posting of the offending video forthwith.

"Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is further directed to ensure that the offending video is taken down immediately," the court had said.

The order was passed on the plea of the woman, who approached the high court seeking injunction and damages for circulation of 'fake and fabricated video'.

In the suit filed through Ashish Dixit, it was stated that the video was fake and concocted and the same is being used to malign the reputation and integrity of the court staff.

"The circulation of video would cause irreparable harm to the petitioner and it would seriously impinge upon the privacy of the petitioner," argued advocate Ashish Dixit.

The plea was filed after the video went viral on social media.

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