Google LLC on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that Youtuber Dhruv Rathee's allegedly defamatory video has been withheld in India. This follows a fresh plea filed by lawyer Amia Sachdeva seeking immediate compliance with an order passed by the Union Government’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) to remove the video.
The video was titled “Can Hindus eat BEEF? Kerala Story 2 Exposed.” In the video, Rathee analyses cultural diversity and references from multiple texts regarding diet in the Vedic period. He argued that the Mahabharata and Valmiki Ramayana mention deities like Lord Ram and Lord Krishna consuming meat and alcohol.
He claimed that the Hindu epic Mahabharata mentions the main characters, the Pandavas, eating deer while they were in exile in the forest. Rathee argued that even Swami Vivekananda’s book The East and The West mentions that the modern vegetarian norms are significantly different from the ancient dietary practices.
The video was published on March 21, and Sachdeva filed a case alleging that it insulted Sanatan Dharma and spread anti-Hindu sentiment. It had drawn fierce backlash from Hindu groups, who accused Rathee of misinterpreting scriptures and hurting religious sentiments.
On July 3, the Court asked the GAC to consider Sachdeva’s appeal. The GAC directed its removal from the platform over alleged offensive content on July 15. Sachdeva has also filed a criminal case against Rathee.
Sachdeva’s new plea added that Google failed to comply with the direction despite the GAC ordering the video’s removal.
While the counsel appearing for Google said that it removed the video in India, he told Justice Sawarana Kanta Sharma that the action had not been taken globally. He said that the Courts have only passed orders of takedown in India and that they are awaiting consideration before a division bench.
AGS Chetan Sharma, who appeared for the government, said that once the video was objected to, then the order must apply across the board.
“At least some indication must come in the order. Otherwise it will be an endless exercise of filing petitions,” he said.
