Delhi High Court Orders Take Down Of YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh's 'Defamatory' Video On Sadhguru, Isha Foundation
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the take down of YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh's recent, allegedly defamatory YouTube video on Isha Foundation and its founder spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.The video titled “Sadhguru EXPOSED: What's happening in Jaggi Vasudev's Ashram” was uploaded by Singh on his YouTube channel on February 24 and he shared it on his 'X' page...
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the take down of YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh's recent, allegedly defamatory YouTube video on Isha Foundation and its founder spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
The video titled “Sadhguru EXPOSED: What's happening in Jaggi Vasudev's Ashram” was uploaded by Singh on his YouTube channel on February 24 and he shared it on his 'X' page with allegations suggesting that minors were being exploited in the Ashram.
At present, the video has 937K views, 65K likes and 13K comments.
Justice Subramonium Prasad directed defendants Google LLC, X Corp and Meta platforms to take down the video in question. The bench also restrained Singh from publishing or sharing the video in question in the interim.
“Defendant No.4, his associates, servants, agents, affiliates, assignees, substitutes, representatives, employees and/or persons claiming through him from creating, publishing, uploading, sharing, disseminating etc. the defamatory videos as listed in Paragraph 8 of Plaint and all the videos/posts/publications/allegations emanating out of the defamatory video as listed in Paragraph 11-13 of the Plaint,” the Court directed.
Justice Prasad also restrained members of the public from uploading the said video on any social media platform.
The Court passed the interim order in a defamation suit filed by Isha Foundation against Shyam Meera Singh. In the interim, Isha Foundation sought take down or removal of the video, claiming that the same is defamatory.
In its order, the Court said that Shyam Meera Singh made the YouTube video based on “unverified material” and that the title of the video is a clickbait to attract public attention.
“In the opinion of this Court, the contents as mentioned in the video are per se defamatory and the same directly impinge upon the reputation of the Plaintiff in eyes of the general public as it states that the Plaintiff follows certain practices which are not accepted in the society,” it said.
Justice Prasad noted that before uploading the video, tweets and posts were also made by Singh on social media to promote the said video.
“It is well settled that reputation is an integral part of the dignity of each individual and there is a need to balance between freedom of speech and freedom of expression vis-a-vis the right to reputation which has been considered as a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The video does have a direct impact on the reputation of the founder of the Plaintiff/Trust,” it said.
Isha Foundation's defamation suit is filed through Advocate Yajat Gulia. Isha foundation was represented by Senior Advocate Manik Dogra along with a team of lawyers from Athena Legal comprising of Mr Simranjeet Singh, Gautam Talukdar Rishabh Pant and Yajat Gulia.
The suit will now be heard on July 09. The interim relief application is listed for hearing next on May 09.
Title: ISHA FOUNDATION v. GOOGLE LLC & ORS.
Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 312