HC notice to Google, Youtube over uploading judge ‘sting’

THE BOMBAY High Court on Friday issued showcause notices to Google and Youtube over a video of court proceedings uploaded on the search engine and the website. The court also directed Youtube to immediately remove the video, which claimed to be a sting operation on a judge.

A division bench of Justices A S Oka and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a petition filed by the Bombay Bar Association, seeking contemptactiontobeinitiatedagainstthepersonswhorecordedanduploadedthevideoon Youtube levelling allegations of corruption against Justice S J Kathawala of High Court.

The court also ordered the Centre to ensure their orders are implemented. “Under the IT Act, the Union government is not powerless. The Union government shall ensure that our order is implemented. We would like to hear the government’s stance since this is not the first time such things are happening,” said Justice Oka. The court said that such videos should not be allowed to be uploaded on such platforms.

The court also issued contempt notices against those involved in uploading the video. It said that it would decide about the proceedings against an advocate involved in the case on February 22, 2017. “The 38-minute video uploaded last week copies the format of a news channel and shows a person acting as anchor and taking interviews of several persons including a lawyer, Nilesh Ojha, and makes scandalous remarks against the judges of this high court,” said Rafiq Dada, the senior counsel appearing for the petitioner.

Advocate General Rohit Deo has given consent to initiate contempt action against 10 people but refused to give consent to initiate action against Youtube. Dada sought the court to take suo motu cognizance.

“Considering scandalous and contemptuous nature of the video”, the court said, the video will have to be removed “forthwith”. “We are issuing showcause notice to respondents11to14(youtubeandgoogle)andseeking their response as to why proceedings under contempt of court should not be initiated against them. The respondents shall file their replies by March 24,” Justice Oka ordered.