The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the removal of YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh's latest YouTube video, which allegedly contains defamatory content about Isha Foundation and its founder, spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

The video, titled “Sadhguru EXPOSED: What's happening in Jaggi Vasudev's Ashram,” was uploaded by Shyam Meera Singh on his YouTube channel on February 24. He also shared it on his ‘X’ page, alleging that minors were being exploited in the ashram.

Currently, the video has amassed 937K views, 65K likes, and 13K comments.

Justice Subramonium Prasad directed Google LLC, X Corp, and Meta Platforms to remove the video. Additionally, the bench issued an interim order restraining Shyam Meera Singh from publishing or sharing the video further.

“Defendant No.4, his associates, servants, agents, affiliates, assignees, substitutes, representatives, employees and/or persons claiming through him from creating, publishing, uploading, sharing, disseminating etc. the defamatory videos as listed in Paragraph 8 of Plaint and all the videos/posts/publications/allegations emanating out of the defamatory video as listed in Paragraph 11-13 of the Plaint,” the Court directed.

Justice Subramonium Prasad also restrained the public from uploading the video on any social media platform. The interim order was passed in a defamation suit filed by Isha Foundation against Shyam Meera Singh.

In its plea, Isha Foundation sought the removal of the video, claiming it was defamatory. The Court, in its order, noted that Singh's video was based on “unverified material” and that its title was a clickbait tactic designed to attract public attention.

“In the opinion of this Court, the contents as mentioned in the video are per se defamatory and the same directly impinge upon the reputation of the Plaintiff in eyes of the general public as it states that the Plaintiff follows certain practices which are not accepted in the society,” it said.

Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that before uploading the video, Shyam Meera Singh had also posted tweets and social media updates to promote it.

“It is well settled that reputation is an integral part of the dignity of each individual and there is a need to balance between freedom of speech and freedom of expression vis-a-vis the right to reputation which has been considered as a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The video does have a direct impact on the reputation of the founder of the Plaintiff/Trust,” it said.

Isha Foundation's defamation suit was filed through Advocate Yajat Gulia and was represented by Senior Advocate Manik Dogra, along with a legal team from Athena Legal, including Simranjeet Singh, Gautam Talukdar, Rishabh Pant, and Yajat Gulia.

The suit is scheduled for a hearing on July 9, while the interim relief application is listed for May 9.

Title: ISHA FOUNDATION v. GOOGLE LLC & ORS.