The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the immediate removal of the nearly two-decade-old song Volume 1associated with singer Honey Singh and Badshah, from all online platforms.
The track was released around 2006-2007 under their collaboration Mandir mafiaIt was subject to judicial scrutiny, as the court ordered the removal of all links hosting the song without delay, describing it as “insulting towards women.”
What the court order said
A bench of Justice Puruchindra Kumar Kaurav, on hearing the petition filed by the Hindu Shakti Dal, made strong observations about the nature of the song’s lyrics. “This is one of the rare cases in which the conscience of the court has been shocked to its absolute core,” the court said while announcing the removal.
“It is one of those unfortunate cases where the court found the song to be blatantly vulgar, patently obscene, and insulting towards women, artistic values and social norms. The judges noted that the lyrics are not merely disrespectful or offensive, but are ostensibly designed to normalize the treatment of women as objects of ridicule and sexual gratification.”
The authority also noted that this content cannot be protected under freedom of expression if it can be accessed freely online.
“No civilized society can allow such content to remain freely available or be monetized… [Honey Singh] and [Badshah] “Any other persons claiming their rights to the impugned obscene song(s) are directed to immediately remove the URLs hosting such content from their social media platforms or any other sites online,” the order added.
The court also recorded that it had listened to the song in chambers earlier in the day and found its title too objectionable to be reproduced in the order.
What the petitioner’s lawyer said
The song has been uploaded several times on YouTube under different accounts, attracting millions of views over the years, the Hindu Shakti Dal said in its plea.
The petition also claimed that both the artistes had earlier denied performing the song but parts of it were sung during a concert in Delhi on March 14.
Advocate Rupali Panwar, the petitioner’s lawyer, was speaking to reporters when she said, “Honi Singh and Badshah have sung this song, even though they claim that they did not sing the song. But in a very recent concert last year, Honey Singh sang two lines of the alleged song against which we are here today. That is why the Supreme Court has issued a notice to Honey Singh and Badshah,” news agency ANI reported.
She continued to demand that the singers apologize, saying: “They should apologize because they have a lot of fans. They are not setting the right example.”
The court issued notice to both singers and scheduled the next hearing on May 7.
During the proceedings, Google’s lawyer informed the court that the URLs specified in the petition had already been removed.
