New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant an urgent listing for a Public Interest Litigation seeking regulatory guidelines against offensive online content targeting religious figures, following alleged derogatory remarks made by a social media influencer against Prophet Muhammad. A Vacation Bench comprising Justice A. Amanullah and Justice Sheel Nagu directed the petitioner, Anas Chaudhary, to first utilize local administrative channels and file a formal police complaint before seeking immediate intervention from the top court. The judges emphasized that bypassing lower state functionaries and rushing to the apex body systematically weakens standard institutional frameworks.
The legal action was brought forward by advocate Rajat Kumar, who argued that the viral video clips, broadcasted by influencer Nazia Elahi Khan during a digital podcast in June, carried the severe potential to disturb communal harmony across the country. Acknowledging the sensitive nature of the grievances, Justice Amanullah questioned the regular practice of short-circuiting standard legal pathways, noting that federal police authorities exist to address initial law-and-order offenses. He maintained that the Supreme Court’s role is primarily supervisory, adding that the judiciary must allow regional law enforcement units the opportunity to execute their mandates to avoid rendering lower administrative institutions redundant.
The apex court strongly advised the legal counsel against sensationalizing highly sensitive issues that carry significant social implications. Justice Amanullah underscored that if an individual has violated the law, they should be prosecuted under the full force of established criminal procedures, but emphasized that legal professionals must act with institutional responsibility. The Bench noted that constitutional remedies remain open to the public, but clarified that the highest court would only step in if the standard statutory machinery failed to deliver appropriate and decisive action against the offender.
The PIL filed by the petitioner named the Union Department of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and major social media intermediaries, including YouTube, Facebook, and X, as co-respondents. The writ petition sought specific directives ordering the Central Government to draft and implement definitive safeguards to prevent the calculated misuse of digital communication platforms. It also pushed for the creation of an accelerated regulatory mechanism to identify, block, and permanently delete defamatory or hate-inducing broadcasts that outrage religious sentiments and disrupt inter-community relations.
