The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to an “ex-parte” and “sweeping gag order” passed by a Bengaluru civil court restraining media outlets from publishing any defamatory material. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) declined to hear a challenge to an “ex-parte” and “sweeping gag order” passed by a Bengaluru civil court restraining media outlets from publishing any defamatory material against Harshendra Kumar D., brother of Dharmasthala pattadhikari D. Veerendra Heggade, in connection with the alleged burials in the temple town.
Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, when the petition was mentioned orally for an early listing, advised advocate A. Velan, appearing for the YouTube channel, Third Eye, to first approach the Karnataka High Court.
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The petition had sought an interim stay of the civil court order of July 18, which had also directed the media to take down any content already published in connection with the issue.
It argued that the civil court “effectively imposed a sweeping gag order and mandatory content deletion on hundreds of media entities nationwide”.
“This order, secured through a calculated abuse of judicial process and material misrepresentation by the plaintiffs, directly obstructs a high-level State criminal investigation into allegations of mass burials and serious crimes linked to the influential Dharmasthala temple. It
is a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and the Press (Article 19(1)(a)) and the foundational principles of natural justice and due process (Article 21),” the petition said.
The Karnataka government has already constituted a Special Investigation Team to enquire into the allegations.
Published – July 23, 2025 01:43 pm IST
