HC orders removal of YouTube videos defaming Girish Mahajan
The single judge bench of justice Arif Doctor was hearing a defamation suit filed by Mahajan, which alleged that YouTubers Anil Thatte and Shyam Giri had uploaded several videos with false, reckless, and unsubstantiated allegations against the minister. The videos had garnered several views and were widely disseminated to the public at large, the minister claimed.
Senior counsel Ravi Kadam, representing Mahajan, submitted that there were six such offending videos – five had been uploaded on the 'Anil Gaganbhedi Thatte' YouTube channel owned by Thatte, while one was uploaded on the 'Mudda Bharat Ka' channel run by Giri.
Kadam referred to a video uploaded on April 1, 2025, titled 'How Girsh Mahajan's nights are colourful.' The video spoke about the minister's purported connection with a lady IAS officer, for which he had been reprimanded by a senior union cabinet minister. 'All these statements and insinuations were completely reckless, false and per se defamatory,' Kadam said.
A cease-and-desist notice was issued against Thatte on April 10, said Kadam. Yet, he uploaded another defamatory video on his channel on April 14, the lawyer noted.
'It is clear that the intention of the person is only to malign and defame the plaintiff on the basis of completely false, baseless, and reckless statements and insinuations,' he said. Thatte and Giri had scant regard for the law and were hurting Mahajan's goodwill and reputation, the lawyer said.
In the order dated May 8, the single judge bench observed that the statements made by Thatte in the videos, as discerned from transcripts, were defamatory. It restrained him and Giri from publishing or circulating any video against Mahajan on any social media platform. It also directed the duo to take down the six offending videos.
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