KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on September 11 directed Meta to temporarily block public access to a social-media video containing allegedly vulgar remarks concerning Sabarimala deities Lord Ayyappa and Malikappurathamma, after Justice G. Girish personally viewed the disputed video in open court and found substance in the allegations raised before him.
The interim direction came in WP(Crl.) No. 1326 of 2026, Rahul K. Easwar v. State of Kerala and Others, filed by commentator and activist Rahul Easwar seeking action against writer-activist Sunny M. Kapikad over remarks attributed to him in the video. Easwar has also sought police action and removal of the content from social-media platforms.
When the matter was taken up today morning, Justice Girish initially indicated that an order would be passed only after the Court verified the contents of the URL specifically referred to in the petition.
The Court subsequently viewed the video in open court with the assistance of its technical staff.
Dictating the interim order thereafter, Justice Girish recorded that, upon viewing the objectionable video, Easwar’s allegation regarding the “scandalous and indecent speech” concerning the Sabarimala deities appeared to be substantiated.
The Court went further and observed that continued availability of the video on the social-media platform would hurt the religious beliefs of worshippers of the deities. It consequently directed the fourth respondent, Meta, to temporarily block and disable public access to the video at the URL placed before the Court.
The relief has, however, been carefully confined to the particular URL examined by the High Court.
During the hearing, Justice Girish clarified that the order was limited to that URL, noting the practical difficulty for Meta in independently scrutinising every instance in which the same or similar material might subsequently be uploaded.
Advocate P.T. Sheejish, appearing for Easwar, told the Court that the petitioner would verify whether the disputed content was available through any additional URLs and requested that the matter remain pending.
The Court clarified that its direction was only an interim order and posted the case for further consideration after three weeks.
Easwar had approached the High Court alleging that videos circulating on social media contained vulgar and sexually explicit remarks about Lord Ayyappa and Malikappurathamma. Besides seeking their removal, he asked the Court to direct the police to act upon his complaint and register a criminal case against Kapikad.
At an earlier hearing, the Public Prosecutor had taken notice for the State and concerned police authorities, while Easwar undertook to complete steps for issuing notice to Meta and Kapikad. The case was then posted to September 10 specifically for further consideration of the request for interim relief.
Today’s order marks a significant development because the High Court has not acted merely on a description of the disputed material. The judge himself viewed the video before granting the temporary takedown direction.
The proceedings also bring into focus the increasingly frequent collision between unrestricted dissemination through social media and protection of the religious beliefs of devotees.
The Court has not yet finally adjudicated the wider criminal allegations against Kapikad. Nevertheless, for the limited purpose of interim relief, its conclusion was unambiguous: after examining the video itself, the Court found the allegation concerning its scandalous and indecent character substantiated and held that its continued public availability would hurt the religious beliefs of Sabarimala worshippers.
