The Uttarakhand High Court has come down hard on the venom spilling across social media, directing platforms to erase abusive and threatening posts aimed at a woman lawyer whose clients were recently acquitted by the Supreme Court in a POCSO case.
The Court, taking suo motu notice earlier this week, found the digital space flooded with messages that went far beyond criticism—some openly hinted at violence. One post, the Bench noted, even appeared to encourage contract killing, disguising the call in the slang of “supari.” Another brazenly declared, “shoot this one too.”
Calling social media a “remit for the immature, the unreasonable and oral incontinence… turning into a nasty circus,” the judges said such content not only demeaned the Supreme Court’s verdict but also endangered the life and dignity of the advocate simply for doing her job.
On September 25, the State police told the Division Bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Subhash Upadhyay that three main offending posts had been flagged, with multiple reposts and at least ten more objectionable comments identified. Platforms including X, Meta, Facebook, and WhatsApp have been instructed to take down the material. Two Personal Security Officers have also been deployed for the lawyer’s protection.
The Court underlined that the dignity of women is “absolutely non-negotiable” and urged platforms to act with urgency: “Some of the posts are so provocative, and only God knows what an imbalanced mind would do after reading them.”
The matter will be revisited on October 17, but for now, the message from the Bench is clear—abuse masquerading as free speech has no place in law or society.