The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a petition challenging a controversial gag order that barred nearly 390 media outlets from reporting on the Dharmasthala temple burial case involving the family of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade in Karnataka.
A bench headed by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and comprising Justices K. Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi declined to intervene in the matter, directing the petitioner to first approach the jurisdictional high court. “You go to the high court first,” the Chief Justice observed during the brief hearing.
The petition was filed by YouTube channel Third Eye challenging an ex parte interim order passed by a local Bengaluru court, which directed the takedown of nearly 9,000 online links and news stories relating to the alleged murder and burial of women in Dharmasthala, located in Dakshina Kannada district.
The gag order stemmed from a defamation suit filed by Harshendra Kumar D, brother of the Dharmadhikari and Secretary of the Sri Manjunathaswamy Temple institutions. Kumar alleged that several media platforms were circulating false and defamatory content linking him and the temple authorities to alleged crimes, despite no direct accusations in any First Information Report (FIR).
In response to rising public attention, the Karnataka government earlier constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the serious allegations. State Home Minister G. Parameshwara recently underscored that conclusions must be withheld until the investigation is complete.
