Decide plea against Dhruv Rathee’s video on Hindu deities within 15 days: Delhi HC to Centre

The Delhi High Court on Friday (July 3, 2026) directed the Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) to decide within 15 days an appeal seeking the removal of YouTuber Dhruv Rathee’s video titled “Can Hindus Eat BEEF? | Kerala Story 2 EXPOSED”.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the direction while hearing a petition filed by advocate Amita Sachdeva, who has challenged the continued public availability of the video on YouTube. The court also cautioned that any disregard of its order would be viewed seriously.

Ms. Sachdeva, in her petition, contends that the video, uploaded on March 21, 2026, contains statements allegedly claiming that Hindu deities Lord Ram, Sita and Lord Krishna consumed meat and alcohol. She argued that the statements made in the video are “patently false, misleading and deliberately distorted” and capable of promoting communal disharmony.

‘Insulting revered icons’

“In this video, he deliberately makes highly offensive, false, and malicious statements insulting the divine character of Bhagwan Shri Ram, Seeta Mata, Bhagwan Shri Krishna and other revered Hindu icons by claiming that they consumed non-vegetarian food (including deer meat) and alcohol, while citing selective or distorted references from Hindu scriptures like Ramayana and Mahabharata,” her plea stated.

She sought either a direction to the GAC, which falls under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), to decide the pending appeal or, alternatively, an order directing the removal of the video from YouTube.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma argued that either YouTube should remove the video or the court should pass appropriate directions for its takedown, contending that the content disparages Hindu deities.

Google’s counsel stated that the company had already responded to Ms. Sachdeva’s grievance and that she had subsequently filed an appeal before the GAC, which remains pending.

Taking note of the submissions, the court directed the GAC to dispose of the appeal within 15 days.

According to the petition, Ms. Sachdeva initially lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell on March 22, 2026, followed by a grievance before YouTube’s Resident Grievance Officer on March 23.

Aggrieved by the non-action of YouTube, Ms. Sachdeva filed an appeal before the GAC.

After Youtube declined to remove the content, stating that they are unable to identify any violations of their community guidelines, Ms. Sachdeva approached the GAC on March 27. The petition alleges that despite the Information Technology rules requiring appeals to be resolved expeditiously, preferably within 30 days, the appeal remained undecided for more than two and a half months.

The petition further states that parallel criminal proceedings are also under way. It stated that the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Saket Courts, on June 9 called for an Action Taken Report from the Delhi Police on her application seeking registration of an FIR.