The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the Central government, social media intermediaries and music platforms to ensure that Yo Yo Honey Singh and Badshah’s controversial and explicit song 'Volume 1' is blocked on all platforms. .Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ordered the blanket ban on the song, stating that it must be ensured that even bits and pieces of the song or its lyrics never come into the public domain. “In whatever forms this song is available on social media platforms, it has to be taken down is clearly the opinion. No one can deny this. We cannot allow even the slightest of it to be on social media,” the Court said. Justice Kaurav also said that he had heard the song in his chambers and it is one of the rarest cases where the "conscience of the court is shocked to its absolute core". This is one of those unfortunate instances where the Court finds that the song is obscene, deeply derogatory towards women and devoid of any artistic or social values, the Court said. It added that no civil society can permit such content to remain on digital platforms. "The lyrics are not only offensive, but they are ex facie dehumanising and try to normalise the treatment of women as objects of ridicule and sexual gratification," the Bench recorded in its order. It also noted that recently, in a concert, Honey Singh sang a few verses of the song. Therefore, the Court issued notice to Singh and Badshah and ordered them to remove the songs from their social media handles and other platforms as well. .The Bench passed the order after an organisation named Hindu Shakti Dal filed a petition in the Court. .Volume 1 is a controversial track by Honey Singh released around two decades ago. The song gained massive popularity but faced backlash for explicit lyrics and alleged misogyny, prompting legal complaints and public protests in India.It has also been entangled in a long-running dispute between Honey Singh and Badshah, who was once part of the Mafia Mundeer collective. Badshah later accused Honey Singh of sidelining collaborators and taking undue credit, while Honey Singh denied the claim. .In detailed directions issued today, Justice Kaurav said that the petitioner can bring to the notice of the government and social media intermediaries any URLs that surface, and the authorities must act immediately to block the content. The petitioner was granted liberty to collate the list of URLs on any of the platforms containing the obscene songs or any remix, etc., to be submitted to the Union of India, which shall pass necessary directions for the take down of the URLs so that immediate action is taken by the authorities, the Court ordered. .Advocates Rupali Panwar, Shubham Gupta, Avinash Kumar Singh and Akash Ranjan Srivastava appeared for the petitioner.
