The Delhi High Court on Thursday, 19th March, directed a Tamil magazine, Nakkheeran, to take down content that was found to be defamatory against Isha Foundation. The interim order was passed by Justice Subramonium Prasad in favour of the Foundation.
The Court also dismissed an application filed by the magazine under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which had sought rejection of the case filed by Isha Foundation. With this, the Court allowed the matter to proceed further.
Isha Foundation seeks ₹3 crore in damages
The defamation suit was filed by Isha Foundation before the Delhi High Court in 2024. The Isha Foundation, founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, is seeking ₹3 crore in damages from the magazine and its editor, Gopal. The Foundation said that several articles and videos published by Nakkheeran contained false and damaging claims about its activities.
It also made Google LLC a party to the case, pointing out that the defamatory content was appearing in Google search results and on its video platform, YouTube.
According to a press release by Isha Foundation, the Nakkheeran magazine had published a series of videos that contained defamatory, vulgar, and obscene content, attempting to harm the reputation of Isha Foundation and Sadhguru. The content published by Nakkheeran magazine also accused the foundation of several misconducts, including exploitation, brainwashing, and illegal activities. These reports also suggested that people staying at the Foundation were being forced or manipulated into remaining there, which the organisation strongly denied.
Supreme Court had closed a related case
The Foundation told the court that such reports were published even after the Supreme Court had already closed a related case on 18th October, 2024. The matter began when a man approached the court, claiming that his two daughters had been “brainwashed” into staying at the Isha Yoga Centre.
Earlier, the Madras High Court had asked the Tamil Nadu government to provide details of any criminal cases against the Foundation. However, when the matter reached the Supreme Court, a Bench led by former Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, spoke directly to the two women.
“We had spoken to both the ladies and recorded. Both of them said that they are living there on free will, and we need to close the habeas corpus plea,” CJI Chandrachud said. The Court then closed the case, while clarifying that any other investigation could still continue if required.
Following this, Isha Foundation approached the Delhi High Court, arguing that the continued publication of such allegations was damaging its reputation.
Similarly, the Delhi High Court in March last year had directed YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh to take down a defamatory video with false claims against Sadhguru and Isha Foundation. The video was subsequently removed as per the court order.
