The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Centre’s Grievances Appeal Committee (GAC) to take a decision within 15 days on a petition seeking removal of a video by YouTuber Dhruv Rathi that allegedly insulted Hindu deities.
The direction was issued by a bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, which was hearing the petition filed on July 1 by advocate Amita Sachdeva seeking the court’s directions to the GAC to take a decision on her complaint over the removal of the video. The petitioner alleged that the contents of the video were malicious, hurtful and defamatory, and that the matter had been pending with the Commission for almost three months since she filed the complaint on March 27, despite the legal mandate for a decision within 30 days of filing the complaint.
“The GAC shall decide the petitioner’s appeal expeditiously within 15 days. Any disregard of the court’s order will be taken seriously,” the court said in its order.
According to the petition, the video, which Rathi uploaded on YouTube on March 21, 2026, in which he allegedly said that Hindu gods ate meat and alcohol.
Representing the Union government, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, along with advocate Avashriya Rudy, contended that the video was insulting to Hindu deities and was therefore intolerant.
Sharma argued that the mere pendency of the appeal before the GAC did not prevent the intermediary from removing the content, also holding that the intermediary must either voluntarily remove the video or comply with a judicial direction ordering its removal.
The attorney representing Google LLC submitted that the appeal was pending before the GAC and the platform filed its response.
Sachdeva said in her petition that she filed a complaint with YouTube’s resident grievance officer on March 23, demanding the video be removed immediately, but YouTube responded by saying they were unable to identify any violations of their community guidelines. After YouTube took no action, it moved GAC.
It is confirmed that Sachdeva also filed a complaint against Rathi in the trial court seeking registration of an FIR against him. In her complaint, Sachdeva alleged that the video contains insults to Sanatan Dharma, distortion of Hindu scriptures, spreading anti-Hindu sentiments, and incitement to religious disharmony, all of which are serious crimes that require urgent attention.
