The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered the Central Government’s ‘Grievance Appellate Committee’ (GAC) to take a decision within the next 15 days in the matter of removing the YouTube video of social media influencer Dhruv Rathi, in which he had allegedly said that Hindu deities Ram, Sita and Krishna used to consume meat and alcohol.
GAC is an important body created by the government that allows users to appeal against the decisions of social media platforms and other online intermediaries. These decisions are given in relation to complaints related to online content or accounts.
The court should be informed about the decision: Justice Sharma
High Court Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma said in her judgment that the GAC’s decision should be taken “with the information of this Court” and “any violation of this order will be viewed seriously”. The court gave this order on the petition of lawyer Amita Sachdeva.
In her petition filed in the court, Amita Sachdeva objected to the video uploaded on YouTube by Dhruv Rathi on March 21, 2026, titled ‘Can Hindus Eat BEEF? | Kerala Story 2 EXPOSED’ (Can Hindus eat beef? Kerala Story 2 exposed).
Video insulted Hindu beliefs: Petition
He also claimed in his appeal that in the video, Rathi wrongly said that respected people like Ram, Sita and Krishna consumed meat and alcohol, his program insulted Hindu beliefs and hurt the sentiments of devotees.
According to Sachdeva, the video is “very derogatory, inflammatory and communally sensitive”. He stressed that the video contains cognizable offenses under sections 196, 299 and 302 of the Indian Judicial Code.
Content is harmful and divisive in society: ASG
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing for the central government, argued that the arbitrator in the case (YouTube) should also have taken appropriate precautions, which also included removing the content. Sharma said that the content uploaded by Rathi is harmful and will create division in the society.
Putting forward his stand, Sharma said, “Either Google should say that they will remove it now, or the judge can give the verdict on the basis of what the Division Bench has said. They (Google’s lawyer) should remove the content and say that they will not allow content that creates division in society and hurts the sentiments of the majority community.”
On this, Google’s lawyer said that he has given his reply to Amita Sachdeva and she has already filed an appeal before the GAC. After this, the court ordered GAC to decide on the appeal within 15 days. Besides, Sachdeva has also filed a criminal complaint in the Magistrate Court regarding this video and the Metropolitan Magistrate has sought a report from the police regarding the action taken.
In his criminal complaint, Sachdeva said that Dhruv Rathi deliberately misrepresented Hindu scriptures, mocked the sanctity of Sanatan Dharma and created communal unrest by linking food habits with caste and politics.
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