Bengaluru: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a direct challenge against an ex-parte gag order that restricted media from publishing defamatory content about Sri Manjunathaswamy temple, Dharmasthala (Karnataka) administration, and its managing family regarding the mass burial case.When the top court assembled, the Third Eye YouTube channel’s counsel presented before Chief Justice of India BR Gavai’s bench, stating: “This is against an ex-parte gag order against 390 media houses. It was passed in three hours, stating to take down about 9,000 links and 9,000 stories. This is in the backdrop of SIT made by Karnataka with DIG officers — it states it will be potentially defamatory and hence, takedown.“The bench, also including Justices K Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi, however, advised counsel on approaching the Karnataka High Court first.A city civil court in Bengaluru issued the temporary injunction order on July 18 following a suit by Harshendra Kumar D, Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade’s brother. The 10th Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge issued the order preventing the publication and circulation of defamatory content against Harshendra, his family, their institutions, and the temple across all media platforms until the next hearing. Additionally, the order also mandated the removal of existing defamatory content.The case originated from an FIR filed by a sanitation worker who alleged being instructed to bury women’s and children’s bodies between 1995 and 2014 in Dharmasthala village.In their petition, the channel had contended that the Bengaluru court order resulted from judicial process misuse and misrepresentation by the plaintiffs. They argued that the order impedes a state investigation into alleged mass burial and serious offences connected to the temple. The petition also highlighted that despite the plaintiffs specifying 8,842 URLs for removal, the court issued a comprehensive gag order shortly after the plaint’s submission. The petitioner also notes that the plaintiffs incorrectly claimed the FIR contained no allegations against them, whereas it actually included complaints implicating the temple administration.BOX20 officials in SITDG-IGP MA Saleem appointed 20 police officials of different ranks to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). SIT is headed by senior IPS officer and DG (Internal Security Division) Pronab Mohanty. Two more IPS officers—MN Anucheth and SK Soumyalatha— will assist Mohanty.
