Delhi High Court restrains BJP's Pranav Singh Champion from publishing obscene video of Uttarakhand MLA

The Delhi High Court recently restrained Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion from posting obscene videos in which independent MLA Umesh Kumar is allegedly shown in a compromising position with a woman [XXX v Facebook LLC & Ors]..Kumar is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttarakhand's Khanpur constituency.Justice Sanjeev Narula passed an interim order to halt the broadcast of an obscene video clip showing the MLA and a woman after the woman filed a suit alleging that the video was a deepfake and an attempt to malign her image.The Court also ordered social media platforms YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook to take down the videos posted on their platforms by Champion and others.“In the event the videos in question resurface on the platforms of Defendants No. 1 to 4 (social media platforms) the Plaintiff shall be at liberty to supply the concerned URLs to the said Defendants, who shall take appropriate action to block/ takedown the same, in accordance with law. However, in case Defendants No. 1 to 4 come to the conclusion that the content is not identical to the videos which have been injuncted by this order, they shall inform the Plaintiff of the same, within a period of one week from the date of receipt of the request, whereafter Plaintiff shall be free to approach this Court for appropriate directions,” the Court ordered..According to the suit filed by the woman, in November 2023, the Haridwar Police received a video of Kumar where he was seen with a woman.Kumar filed a first information report (FIR) under Section 66D of the Information and Technology Act, 2000. The investigation in this FIR is continuing and the video has also been sent for forensic analysis to a laboratory in Hyderabad, India.On December 7, Champion organised a press conference where he displayed the video on his computer and declared that the same would be circulated across all social media platforms so that the video becomes viral.The Court was told that the videos were fake or deep fakes which have been created to malign the woman's image. The plaintiff-woman argued that she was being dragged into the political tussle between Champion and Kumar, who were political rivals and contesting for the same Khanpur legislative assembly constituency..The Court granted the plaintiff interim relief after expressing concern about her right to privacy. "While the issue of defamation of Plaintiff remains to adjudicated, the immediate concern of the Court is the violation of privacy of the Plaintiff ... the Court is satisfied that the Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim relief. Balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against the Defendants," the Court said. .The Court, therefore, ordered the takedown of the video in question from all social media platforms. However, Justice Narula refused to order the takedown a of video of Champion’s press conference..The matter will be heard next in April 2024. .Senior Advocate Amit Sibal along with advocates Atul TN, K Pallavi, Samridhi, Saksham and Darpan appeared for the plaintiff-woman.Advocates Mamta R Jha, Rohan Ahuja, Shruttima Ehersa, Vatsalya Vishal, Amishi Sodani and Rahul K appeared for Google.