The additional chief judicial magistrate, Jalandhar, on Thursday ordered the immediate removal and blocking of a “doctored” video featuring former Delhi chief minister Atishi. The clip, which purportedly showed her making controversial remarks about the ninth Sikh master, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was found to be digitally manipulated to incite communal tension.
Acting on an application by the Jalandhar cyber crime police, the court observed that the video’s circulation posed a threat to public order and religious harmony in Punjab.
In the order, the court invoked Rule 3(d) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021, directing Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X, and Telegram to pull down the content associated with specific URLs.
“The allegedly offensive material is directed to be removed forthwith and in any event within 24 hours of the receipt of the court order,” the bench observed. It further mandated that all identical, mirror, or derivative versions of the content be blocked as and when identified by the state cyber crime department. The court has sought a compliance report within 10 days.
The police submission to the court detailed a technical probe that debunked the video’s authenticity. Initially, social media experts used AI tool Gemini to detect digital alterations. This was followed by a comprehensive audit at the state forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Mohali.
“The FSL report, based on auditory and spectrographic examination, concluded that the word ‘Guru’ was never uttered by Atishi in the video. The captions were deliberately added to attribute words to her that she never spoke,” the police informed the court.
An FIR was registered on January 7 following a complaint by local AAP leader Iqbal Singh Bagga, who alleged that the video, circulated by Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, Congress MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Pargat Singh, and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on their X accounts, was maliciously edited to create a political uproar.
The controversy triggered sharp reactions from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), while the Delhi assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta sought a written explanation from Punjab Police on the investigation by Thursday.
The FIR was registered under Sections 196(1) (promoting enmity) and 353 (public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 66(c) of the Information Technology Act.
