The Supreme Court on Friday refused to gag media from reporting on the Dharmasthala mass burial case in Karnataka.
A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan, however, directed a trial court in Karnataka to decide afresh the plea filed by the secretary of the Dharmasthala Temple seeking removal of what he alleged was defamatory content targeting the family managing the temple.
The top court noted gag orders were passed only in extremely rare cases and asked the petitioner to place all materials before the trial court.
The bench clarified it hadn't expressed opinion on the merits of the matter The high court on August 1 set aside a gag order issued by a Bengaluru civil court restraining reportage on the burial case.
The gag order was over reports on the alleged murders of women in Dharmasthala in the state's Dakshina Kannada district.
The petitioner's lawyer alleged around 8,000 YouTube channels were running defamatory material against the temple.
Harshendra Kumar D, Secretary of the Dharmasthala Temple body, moved the apex court seeking removal of the alleged defamatory content.
On July 23, the CJI-led bench declined to hear another petition filed by YouTube channel Third Eye challenging a sweeping gag order that restrained media houses from reporting on matters related to the brother of Dharamadhikari D Veerendra Heggade of Dharamsthala in Karnataka.
The plea, filed against an ex parte interim order of a local court, questioned the legality of the directive which directed as many as 390 media houses to remove nearly 9,000 links and stories related to the Dharamsthala burial case.
The gag order was passed in Kumar's defamation suit alleging spread of false and defamatory online content, despite the absence of specific allegations against him or the temple authorities in any FIR.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara recently said a thorough investigation must precede any conclusions regarding the alleged murders of women in Dharmasthala.
The state government has constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegations.
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