New Delhi, Sep 10: The Delhi Police on Thursday informed a Delhi court that its enquiry into a complaint against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee over his video regarding many revered Hindu figures is still underway, with electronic evidence and account details being sought from Google and YouTube.
This comes as police filed a status report before Chief Judicial Magistrate Niharika Kumar Sharma and informed the court that the video contained allegedly derogatory and offensive statements concerning many revered Hindu figures, thereby allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
On June 9, the court directed the Delhi Police to file an Action Status report concerning the complaint by Amita Sachdeva on March 22, 2026, who alleged that the video distorted Hindu scriptures, insulted Sanatan Dharma and promoted communal disharmony.
She alleged that Rathee had made false and malicious statements suggesting that revered Hindu figures, including Lord Ram and Sita, consumed non-vegetarian food and alcohol by selectively or inaccurately referring to Hindu scriptures.
Subsequently, an enquiry was initiated, and the video was examined in reference to the allegations.
During the enquiry, the police issued a notice to Google and YouTube seeking information. Google/YouTube sought certain clarifications concerning the enquiry, the relevance of the account and video, and the specific content under investigation.
The police said the requisite clarification was being furnished and a fresh request was being submitted to Google/YouTube to obtain the required details, and the platform’s response is awaited.
The police told the court that a final status report could be filed after receiving and examining the information from Google/YouTube and concluding the enquiry.
The police report also disclosed that Sachdeva had approached the Delhi High Court over the video.
On July 3, the high court directed the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) to decide her appeal expeditiously. On July 15, the GAC directed the removal of the video, saying it had a tendency to hurt religious sentiments.
On August 11, the high court took note of the GAC order and recorded that access to the video had subsequently been restricted by Google/YouTube within India.
The police have sought reasonable time from the court to complete the enquiry and submit its final report. (PTI)
