YouTuber and journalist Shyam Meera Singh told the Delhi High Court on Saturday that he will delete the tweets made by him yesterday (Friday) regarding Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh filing a defamation case against him [Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan Shishyeva Gaddinashin Shah Satnam Singh ji Maharaj v YouTube LLC and Anr].
Singh's counsel also assured the Court that he will not tweet on the matter while it is sub judice.The assurance was given to the Court after Justice Manoj Jain expressed his displeasure over Singh commenting on the ongoing case."No further tweets while the matter is sub judice... I want your client (Shyam Meera Singh) to be responsible. If he is a journalist, he needs to be responsible. Please do not make any tweets which interfere with the justice delivery system," Justice Jain remarked.However, the Bench did not pass any orders today directing Shyam Meera Singh to delete the video he published on YouTube, which Ram Rahim claims to be defamatory.
The Court said that it will consider Ram Rahim's plea for interim directions after Singh's counsels file their reply.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim has sued Shyam Meera Singh for defamation in relation to a video published by Singh on his YouTube channel on December 17.
The video was titled “How Gurmeet Ram Rahim fooled his bhakts?” The video’s thumbnail read, “Ram Rahim ka asli sach (Ram Rahim’s real truth)”.
As the matter was heard yesterday, Shyam Meera Singh posted several tweets regarding the proceedings.
In one of the tweets, he allegedly asked people to download and watch his video before it is ordered to be taken down.
Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur appeared for Gurmeet Ram Rahim today and raised objections to the tweet.
He argued that even after the Court heard the matter and issued notice, Singh asked people to download his video because it may be taken down.
Mathur contended that Singh is a habitual offender and that he is no longer with any media organization and cases are pending against him.
He also stated that every second that the defamatory video is available on YouTube, it is damaging Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s reputation.
“On December 24, he was served with a legal notice. He tweeted on the same day. It is not as if they are not aware of the proceedings… They say the video is based on a book. If there is something defamatory in the book, they cannot go on perpetuating it. I am being prejudiced every second. My prejudice cannot be compensated,” Mathur argued.
He also challenged Shyam Meera Singh’s counsels’ assertion that he tweeted on the issue only after it was reported in Bar & Bench.Meanwhile, advocates Kapil Madan and Gurmukh Singh Arora appeared for Shyam Meera Singh and contended that the video was based on a 2018 book written by another journalist named Anurag Tripathi and that Ram Rahim has not made him a party to the suit.They said that if the video is ordered to be taken down without the court going through it and without reaching a prima facie conclusion, it will set a wrong precedent.
“We were not served with an advanced copy of the suit… Yesterday, before I could know there was a case, a story was published by Bar & Bench. I came to know about the same through Bar & Bench. Till 6:41PM I did not have a copy of the petition. If they are so concerned, they should have given me an advance copy of the filing,” Madan said.
The Court considered the submissions and said that it will hear the matter on January 4 by which date, Shyam Meera Singh should file a reply to the case.
Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur argued the case for Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The suit has been filed through Advocate Shriya Chanda.Advocates Kapil Madan and Gurmukh Singh Arora argued for Shyam Meera Singh.
TAGS: Delhi High Court Shyam Meera Singh Gurmeet Ram Rahim defamation case tweets sub judice
