Dharmasthala burials: Karnataka HC quashing of media gag on YouTube channel challenged in Supreme Court

A recent order passed by the Karnataka High Court quashing the media gag imposed by a Bengaluru civil court on YouTube channel Kudla Rampage regarding its reportage on the Dharmasthala mass burial case has been challenged before the Supreme Court.

Secretary of the Dharmasthala Temple institutions, Harshendra Kumar D has moved the apex court to take down the allegedly defamatory content being circulated against the family running the Temple.

The matter was mentioned this morning before the Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Vinod Chandran.

"Around 8,000 YouTube channels are running defamatory content against the Dharmasthala temple," the mentioning counsel said.

The Court hinted that the matter may be heard tomorrow.

"I think it’s already listed for tomorrow," the CJI replied.

The case stems from the media coverage that followed serious allegations made by a former sanitation worker employed at the Dharmasthala Manjunathaswamy Temple. The worker claimed in a police complaint that he had been forced by his supervisors to bury numerous bodies, including those of women, for nearly two decades. While the complaint did not name any specific individuals as accused in a crime, the revelations triggered significant public debate and media reportage.

Following this, Harshendra Kumar filed a civil defamation suit before a sessions court in Bengaluru, listing 8,842 allegedly defamatory links. These included 4,140 YouTube videos, 932 Facebook posts, 3,584 Instagram posts, 108 news articles, 37 Reddit posts, and 41 tweets.

On July 18, Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar Rai passed a blanket gag order till August 5 against reporting the issue.

This was challenged before the Karnataka High Court by Kudla Rampage. On August 1, the High Court lifted the restraining order imposed on the YouTube channel, but the gag order effectively remained in force with respect to other media outlets.

Judge Rai later requested that the matter be placed before another judge. This, after journalist Naveen Soorinje pointed out that judge Rai had been a student of the 1995-1998 batch of the SDM Law College, Mangalore, which is run by the Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Trust.

The matter then came up before Judge Anitha M, who yesterday dismissed the Dharmasthala temple administration's plea to injunct the media's reporting of the mass burial allegations. Effectively, the earlier media gag was lifted.