The Delhi High Court has recently declined to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at removing videos of women and minor girls from YouTube that were uploaded without their consent.

The PIL was withdrawn after the division bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, showed reluctance to entertain the plea. The petition, filed by three individuals, had also requested action against vloggers who uploaded unauthorized videos of women and minor girls, including a permanent ban on their accounts.

The counsel representing the petitioners stated that the PIL was being withdrawn but requested permission to initiate appropriate proceedings under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

“With the aforesaid liberty, the present writ petition is disposed of,” the bench, also comprising of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, said.

The court, however, clarified that the rights and contentions of all the parties are left open.

Counsel for Petitioners: Sh. Vikram Kumar, Ms. Anushka Kumar and Mr. Abhinav Kumar, Advocates for Petitioner No.2; Ms. Vanya Agrawal, Advocate for Petitioner No.3

Counsel for Respondents: Ms. Manisha Agrawal Narain, CGSC with Mr. Sandeep Singh Somaria, Mr. Akhil Gupta, Advocates and Ms. Meenakshi, G.P. Ms. Meenakshi, Advocate/G.P. for UOI/R-3; Ms. Mamta R. Jha, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Shruttima, Mr. Vatsalya and Mr. Rahul Choudhary, Advocates for R-5

Case Title: AMITA SACHDEVA & ORS. v. NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN & ORS