Dharmasthala case: High Court lifts gag order on media, rejects lower court's ex-parte injunction
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed the ex-parte injunction issued by a lower trial court that had barred media outlets from publishing or broadcasting any news related to D. Harshendra Kumar in connection with the ongoing Dharmasthala case, where allegations were made about the burial of hundreds of dead bodies.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna of the High Court partially upheld the petition filed by Ajay, the editor-in-chief of the YouTube channel Kudla Rampage, who had challenged the injunction. The trial court's order dated July 8, 2025, which imposed a sweeping media gag, was set aside.
The case will now be remanded back to the competent lower court to consider the interim petition filed by Kumar, taking into account the observations made by the High Court. The single-judge bench stated that the trial court must urgently decide on the interim plea and that all parties are free to argue their respective claims. The High Court made no remarks on the merits of the civil suit, criminal proceedings, or the specific allegations and counter-allegations involved in the case.
The court directed all involved parties, including Ajay and others, to cooperate fully with the lower court, emphasising that only one specific element of the original injunction order had been considered at this stage. A detailed copy of the High Court’s order is awaited.
D. Harshendra Kumar had filed a civil suit in the Additional City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru, seeking to restrain the publication or sharing of 8,842 links across multiple platforms. These included 4,140 YouTube videos, 932 Facebook posts, 3,584 Instagram posts, 108 news articles, 37 Reddit threads, and 41 tweets, all of which he claimed were defamatory.
Despite not being named in the FIR lodged based on a sanitation worker’s complaint, Kumar argued that false and defamatory statements targeting him, his family, and his institutions were being widely circulated on digital and mainstream media. In response, the lower court had issued an ex-parte gag order on July 8, restraining all media houses and unknown individuals from publishing or disseminating such content until further proceedings.
This blanket ban was subsequently challenged in the High Court by Kudla Rampage, leading to Friday’s ruling lifting the restriction.
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PM Modi inaugurates India AI Impact Expo, interacts with startups
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the India AI Impact Expo here featuring over 600 high-potential startups and 13 country pavilions showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem.
He also interacted with startups participating in the expo.
The prime minister visited various stalls and spoke with the companies participating in the expo. He was seen asking questions from company representatives to better understand what they are showcasing.
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The prime minister spent several minutes at various stalls while interacting with the representatives.
The Expo brings together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, central and state governments and international partners.
Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo brings together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union ministries, state governments and international partners.
The Expo also features 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa.
The Expo will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, structured across three thematic chakras -- people, planet and progress.
In addition, the Expo will feature over 600 high-potential startups, many of them building globally relevant and population-scale solutions. These startups will demonstrate working solutions that are already deployed in real-world settings.
