NCW Takes Cognisance Of 'Objectionable Video' Of Delhi Court Judge, Seeks Action Taken Report

Earlier, the Delhi High Court restrained sharing and posting of the "sexually explicit" video of a Rouse Avenue court judge allegedly sexually abusing a woman in his room.

NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Registrar General, Delhi High Court seeking an action taken report and to take strict action against the judge if allegations are found to be true, the statement read. ( Image Source :Twitter/@NCWIndia )

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday stated that it has taken cognisance of the media reports on objectionable video of a Rouse Avenue court judge allegedly sexually abusing a woman in his room.

"Chairperson Ms Rekha Sharma has written to the Registrar General, Delhi High Court seeking an action taken report and to take strict action against the judge if allegations are found to be true," the NCW mentioned in its statement.

National Commission for Women (NCW) has come across a media post reporting an objectionable video of a Rouse Avenue court judge allegedly sexually abusing a woman in his room. The Commission has taken cognizance of the matter: NCW pic.twitter.com/FXM20tOetP

— ANI (@ANI) December 2, 2022

"The Commission has also asked to apprise whether the Rouse Avenue Court has an Internal Committee in place as per rules laid down in the POSH Act. Action taken in the matter should be intimated to the Commission within 7 days," it added.

This comes after the Delhi High Court restrained sharing and posting of the "sexually explicit" video of a judicial officer and a woman that surfaced on November 29 and was circulated on social media platforms.

According to news agency PTI, the court stated that its circulation would cause irreparable harm to the privacy rights of the plaintiff. In an order late Wednesday night, Justice Yashwant Varma allowed prayer to "conceal" the identity of the aggrieved party, and said an ad interim ex-parte injunction was warranted as the circulation of the video was in violation of several laws.

The judge noted that the full court of the high court has itself taken cognisance of the incident on its administrative side, and pursuant to a resolution, its registrar general has conveyed to authorities the need to take appropriate action for blocking the video over all messaging and social media platforms as well as through internet service providers (ISPs), PTI reported.

"Bearing in mind the sexually explicit nature of the contents of that video and taking into consideration the imminent, grave and irreparable harm that is likely to be caused to the privacy rights of the plaintiff an ad interim ex parte injunction is clearly warranted," the court stated in its order.

The content, if circulated amongst parties and users of the services provided by the defendant number 1 to 4 (social media platforms), would also appear to, prima facie, violate the legally acceptable terms of use as adopted by the defendants, the court observed.

The court also asked the Centre to ensure that all further steps as warranted in terms of the communication of the registrar general are taken and a compliance report is submitted in these proceedings.

The order was passed on a lawsuit by one of the persons in the video and it sought a permanent injunction restraining publication and telecast of the purported video dated March 9, 2022.

The plaintiff was represented by lawyers Ashish Dixit, Amit Sharma, and Vandana Sachdeva.

The lawsuit was taken up for hearing on "urgent mentioning and in light of the imminent and irreparable harm that is likely to be caused to the plaintiff".

The court issued notices to the Centre and social media platforms on the lawsuit and listed the case for further hearing on December 9.

According to a report by the Telegraph, a senior additional sessions judge of the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi was suspended after a video showed him in an intimate position with a female court employee in his official chamber.

Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma took the “administrative” decision to suspend the judge and the female staffer working with him after consulting a few senior colleagues, pending their explanations, sources told The Telegraph on Thursday.

(With Agency Inputs)