A solution must be found at the earliest, since it invovles the dignity of a woman which has to be safeguarded under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 7. Post this writ petition under the same caption on 19.08.2025 at 02.15 P.M. 05.08.2025 Index : Yes/No Neutral Citation : Yes/No gya To 1.The Union Of India Rep By The Secretary to Government, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology 6, Lodhi Road, CGO Complex, Pragati Vihar, Electronics Niketan, New Delhi-110 003 2.The Director General of Police Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore, Chennai-600 004 N. ANAND VENKATESH, J. gya W.P.No.25017 of 2025 05.08.2025

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 05.08.2025

CORAM

THE HONOURABLE Mr.JUSTICE N. ANAND VENKATESH

W.P.No.25017 of 2025

X
Petitioner(s)

Vs

1.The Union Of India
Rep By The Secretary to Government,
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
6, Lodhi Road, CGO Complex,
Pragati Vihar, Electronics Niketan,
New Delhi-110 003

2.The Director General of Police
Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai-600 004
Respondent(s)

[R2 suo motu impleaded vide order dated 09.07.2025]

Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondent herein to act upon the petitioner representation dated 18.6.2025 by taking all appropriate measures, including but not limited to blocking/removing/issuing take down notices/issuing directions to all concerned intermediaries/websites/ pornographic platforms/ telecommunication service providers to forthwith and on a continuing basis detect, remove, and block all content depicting the petitioners Non consensual intimate images and videos(NCII)which are being uploaded,shared re-uploaded, transmitted or distributed over the Internet and digital platforms, by employing technological solutions such as Hash Matching Technology, Artificial intelligence-based content recognition tools including Photo DNA, Google content safety Hash checkers, or any other similar tools or mechanisms, so as to ensure the effective removal of such content and to prevent its further dissemination on any Internet or digital platform at present and in the future.
For Petitioner(s): Mr.Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam
Senior Counsel
for Mr.Rajagopal Vasudevan

For Respondent(s): Mr.A.Kumaraguru
Senior Panel Counsel for R1

Mr.R.Muniyapparaj
Additional Public Prosecutor
Assisted by Mr.V.Meganathan
Government Advocate
for R2

O R D E R
Pursuant to the earlier order passed on 22.07.2025, this matter was listed for hearing today. The learned Senior Panel Counsel appearing on behalf of the 1st respondent produced an Office Memorandum dated 28.07.2025, issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The Ministry concerned has taken into account the earlier orders passed by this Court and there is a proposal to constitute a Committee in the following manner:
S.No. Name & Designation Role
1. Joint Secretary, MeitY Chairperson
2. Group Coordinator, Cyber Law Member
3. Representative not below the rank of Director from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Member
4. Representative not below the rank of Director from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Member
5. Representative not below the rank of Director from Ministry of Women and Child Development Member
6. Dr.S.Sathyanarayanan, Scientist E, MeitY Member
convenor

The terms of reference for the said Committee have also been set forth in paragraph No.4 of the Office Memorandum which is extracted hereunder :
“4. The terms of reference of the Committee constituted will be as under:
● Formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for combating dissemination of NCII content, comprising of legal and technical solutions, for immediate and long-term action; including steps to be taken by the victim in concerning situations;
● Sensitization programs for government agencies and citizens, regarding dissemination of NCII content.“
The Committee has also been directed to submit its report to this Court by 05.08.2025. However, the learned Senior Panel Counsel submitted that some more time is required to submit a report.
2. The learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that during the previous hearing, six video links were pointed out where the videos/intimate images continued to resurface. However, presently, they have resurfaced in 13 video links. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that the list of 13 video links was also furnished to the learned Senior Panel Counsel appearing on behalf of the 1st respondent.

3. The learned Senior Panel Counsel, on instructions, submitted that the information was immediatley forwarded to the 1st respondent for follow up and immediate action. The video links that were submitted during the previous hearing were forwarded to the 1st respondent and they were unable to open it in Delhi and Mumbai and they were found to be effectively blocked. However, it is able to be accessed insofar as Tamil Nadu is concerned. It is therefore submtited that some coordination is required even with the local service providers. Therefore, the Commitee will look into this issue and come up with a final SOP.

4. The learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the Government identified certain OTT platforms streaming obscene pornographic content and all those OTT platforms were effectively blocked. In the same manner, certain adverse reference/misinformation/ propaganda campaigns that were made against Operation Sindoor, were effectively blocked by the Government and nearly 1,400 anti-India URLs were blocked. This also included certain URLs, which were operating outside India. It was, therefore, contended that a mechanism is available to effectively block the offending websites and also to prevent the resurfacing of those offending websites. With the very same intensity, it must be applied even where the dignity of a citizen is involved.

5. The learned Senior Panel Counsel appearing on behalf of the 1st respondent submitted that the Ministry concerned has taken up this issue seriously and a Committee has been appointed and it will ensure that the offending websites that were pointed out by the petitioner are effectively blocked and prevented from resurfacing. That apart, the SOP will also be filed before this Court to enable this Court to pass final orders in the writ petition.

6. It is seen from the Office Memorandum dated 28.07.2025, that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has acted upon the earlier orders passed by this Court and they are aware of the seriousness of the issue involved in this case. Hence, they have constituted a Committee consisting of experts and they have been provided with the terms of reference. The Committee can take the present case as a test case and ensure that all the offending video links are effectively blocked and they are not allowed to resurface. If the Committee is able to succeed in this mission, the same module can be adopted for all the other cases to effectively block the video links and prevent resurfacing of the same. The Committee can also take into consideration the method that was adopted for blocking nearly 1,400 anti-India URLs during the Operation Sindoor. A solution must be found at the earliest, since it invovles the dignity of a woman which has to be safeguarded under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

7. Post this writ petition under the same caption on 19.08.2025 at 02.15 P.M.

05.08.2025
Index : Yes/No
Neutral Citation : Yes/No
gya

To
1.The Union Of India
Rep By The Secretary to Government,
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
6, Lodhi Road, CGO Complex,
Pragati Vihar, Electronics Niketan,
New Delhi-110 003

2.The Director General of Police
Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai-600 004

N. ANAND VENKATESH, J.
gya

W.P.No.25017 of 2025

05.08.2025