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The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear on August 8 a plea challenging a recent order of the Karnataka High Court quashing a media gag on reportage surrounding the controversial Dharmasthala mass burial case.
A bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai said it would hear the matter on Friday as an advocate mentioned it for urgent hearing. "Around 8,000 YouTube channels are running defamatory material against the Dharmasthala temple," the advocate said while mentioning the appeal against the High Court order. "I think it's already listed for tomorrow," the CJI said. On August 1, the High Court had set aside an earlier gag order issued by a Bengaluru civil court restraining reportage on the burial case. Harshendra Kumar D, Secretary of the Dharmasthala Temple body, approached the top court seeking the removal of alleged defamatory content targeting the family that manages the temple. On July 23, the top court had declined to hear a petition filed by YouTube channel Third Eye challenging a sweeping gag order that restrained media houses from reporting on matters related to the brother of Dharamadhikari D Veerendra Heggade of Dharamsthala in Karnataka. The gag order was passed on reports on the alleged murders of women in Dharmasthala in the state's Dakshina Kannada district. The YouTube channel had questioned the legality of the order, which directed as many as 390 media houses to remove nearly 9,000 links and stories related to the Dharamsthala burial case. The gag order was passed by the local court in Kumar's defamation suit alleging the spread of false and defamatory online content, despite the absence of specific allegations against him or the temple authorities in any FIR. The state government has constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegations. (ANI)
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