Dharmasthala burial case: Court restrains media from carrying defamatory content

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court has issued a restraining order against multiple media houses and YouTube channels, barring them from sharing defamatory content against Harshendra Kumar D, brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade, in connection with the alleged burial of bodies at Dharmasthala.

The order follows a defamation suit filed by the Secretary of Sri Manjunathaswamy Temple, after media reports surfaced citing allegations by a sanitation worker that he was forced by temple supervisors to bury several bodies. The worker, however, did not name Kumar or his family.

X Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai noted the potential reputational harm and stated that such allegations, even if false, could severely impact the temple, its institutions, and students.

“...when an allegation is made against the institution, and temple, it affects a wider range of people including the employees and students who are studying in various colleges and schools. Therefore, even a single false and defamatory publication would seriously affect the functioning of the institutions,” the order stated.

The court also directed the removal or de-indexing of defamatory content already online. Kumar submitted a list of 8,842 defamatory links, including thousands of YouTube videos, Facebook and Instagram posts, news articles, and social media posts.

He argued that no FIR named him or the temple’s institutions, and one prior case had resulted in acquittal. Emphasising the need to balance free speech with protection from defamation, the court stated this was an exceptional case of baseless allegations. A John Doe order was also passed to cover unidentified individuals. The matter is set to be heard next on August 5.