Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Supreme Court has refused to impose any restrictions on the media in connection with the Dharmasthala mass burial case, dealing a setback to Harshendra Kumar D, secretary of Dharmasthala temple institutions, who had sought an injunction to stop the publication of alleged defamatory reports.

The court, hearing the petition Harshendra Kumar D vs Kudla Rampage and others, also directed the trial court in Karnataka to independently consider and decide on the plea for interim injunction within two weeks from the next date of hearing.

The matter came up before a bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan on Friday, August 8. Justice Manmohan observed that gag orders were issued only in the rarest of cases as they curtailed freedom of speech.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the temple, argued that derogatory reports and memes were being circulated daily on social media and television, and sought at least interim protection. However, the bench said the temple could always seek damages if defamatory reports caused loss, but restrictions on the media could not be justified.

The Supreme Court declined interim relief and asked the trial court to take up the plea afresh, making it clear that any observations made by the high court should not influence the decision.

The case stems from allegations by a man claiming to have worked for decades as a sanitation worker in Dharmasthala, who said he had buried hundreds of bodies, many of them women, showing signs of assault. The issue has received wide media attention.

Harshendra Kumar had approached the city civil and sessions court in Bengaluru, claiming that defamatory reports were being published against him, his family and the temple. The plea cited 8,842 objectionable links.

On July 18, the Bengaluru court had issued an interim injunction preventing all media, including the Kudla Rampage YouTube channel, from reporting on the case. The YouTube channel challenged this in the Karnataka High Court, which on Aug 1 lifted the curbs on it while retaining restrictions on other media.

The judge who initially granted the injunction later recused himself after it emerged that he was an alumnus of the law college run by the Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Trust. His successor dismissed the temple’s plea to continue the media ban, prompting Harshendra Kumar to move the Supreme Court, where he has now faced a setback.