New Delhi: A Jalandhar court, while hearing an application arising out of FIR No. 02 dated 07.01.2026, has directed social media intermediaries—including X Corp (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms—to remove/block/disable access to the allegedly unlawful video content and linked posts, and to prevent further dissemination of identical, mirror, re-uploaded, or derivative versions. The court has also ordered preservation of relevant information, data, logs and records related to the offending material for investigation purposes.
The order is titled “State Vs. Meta INC & X Corporation”. It records that the FIR was registered under Sections 196(1), 353(1)(b), 352(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66-C of the Information Technology Act, at Police Station Cyber Crime, Jalandhar City.
Who appeared before the court
The order notes the presence/appearance of:
- Shri Satnam Singh, Deputy District Attorney, and Shri R.S. Makkar, learned APP for the State
- Shri Vineet Ahlawat, ADCP (Operations), Jalandhar (in person)
- Inspector Ravinder Kumar No. 665/GRP, posted at PS Cyber Crime, CP Jalandhar (in person)
What the prosecution sought
The prosecution moved the court seeking directions to:
- Meta Platform, Inc., 1 Meta Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, and
- X Corp
to block the URLs of the alleged content in question.
Basis of complaint and the court’s prima facie view
The order records that the FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint moved by Iqbal Singh @ L.S. Bagga, who disclosed circulation of a video content along with disturbing and ill-intention captions on social media platform “X” (formerly Twitter) and on Meta by users operating accounts/handles mentioned in the annexures.
The court notes that, prima facie, the applicant/prosecution’s case is that:
- the contents in the video along with subtitles are “doctored”, and
- the posts are capable of impairing communal harmony, inciting religious discord, and disturbing public order within Punjab.
Law-and-order concern highlighted to the court
A key portion of the order records a statement placed before the court by Shri Vineet Ahlawat, ADCP (Operations), stating that:
- Model Town Gurudwara Committee, Jalandhar, and Guru Nanak Mission Chowk Gurudwara Committee, Jalandhar had declared they would call for protest if action is not taken by police;
- protests were organized in District Kapurthala the previous day;
- Jalandhar City Police had credible information that if action is not taken, protests would be organized on a large scale;
- several opposite groups were alleging the words shown in the video were in fact spoken; and
- the allegations may lead to communal disharmony, with the order recording that the language, tone and tenor of the impugned posts indicate a deliberate and conscious attempt to generate hostility, resentment and ill-will on religious lines—posing a serious threat to communal harmony, social cohesion, law and order and the security of the State, particularly in the sensitive border State of Punjab, with possible spillover effects beyond the State.
The court’s reasoning for urgent intervention
The order records that keeping in view the security and law-and-order situation, the continued availability and circulation of the impugned content on social media platform “X” is likely to aggravate communal tensions and may lead to breach of peace and public disorder—thereby requiring immediate judicial intervention to prevent further harm.
Forensic / technical findings recorded in the order
The order records that:
- A pen-drive containing an audio/video file named “Kapil Mishra X video.mp4” of duration 16 seconds was sent for analysis (the file’s hash value (MD5) is recorded in the order).
- The report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) states that, on the basis of auditory and spectrographic examination and metadata properties, it has been concluded that the word “Guru” was not uttered by the speaker in the audio extracted from the video file.
- The order also refers to the video being analysed by Senior Constable Rakesh Kumar No.1564/Jal, Social Media Expert posted in Technical Cell since 2024, using an AI tool “Gemini.ai”, which (as per the order) showed the video is fake and digitally altered.
- It further records that a letter No. 2901 dated 08.01.2026 was dispatched by the Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar to the State Forensic Laboratory, Mohali for forensic examination of the audio used in the video to ensure fair investigation and to find the real culprit behind the video.
Sections and investigation status
The court order notes that the acts alleged in the FIR constitute cognizable offences under the above BNS provisions and Section 66-C of the IT Act, and that the investigation is pending. It also mentions that the transcript used in subtitles (concealed in the order) is mentioned in the application itself.
Directions issued to platforms (takedown + preservation + preventing re-uploads)
The court directs:
- Meta Platforms, Instagram, Facebook, X and Telegram to preserve all the information and associated record relating to the offending material so the evidence is not vitiated;
- removal/blocking of the objectionable content and preventing further dissemination, including removal of any identical, mirror, re-uploaded or derivative versions as and when specific account details and URLs are communicated by the State Cyber Crime Department;
- and warns that under the applicable provisions (as cited in the order), an intermediary may forfeit exemption from liability if it fails to observe obligations for removal/access disablement of offending content despite a court order.
The order also records that the alleged content was circulated on multiple social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Thread, WhatsApp, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, Telegram and Signal, and that further circulation could lead to social disharmony and aggravate communal tension.
The order states that the application stands disposed off, and records that the report would be submitted within 10 days from the date of the order.
It is pronounced in open court on 15.01.2026 and is signed by Harpreet Kaur, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jalandhar (UID No. PB00312).
