A petitioner seeking a compensation of Rs 75 lakh from YouTube for allegedly showing sexually explicit advertisements during the preparation for the Madhya Pradesh Police exam was fined 25,000 rupees by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Anand Kishor Choudhary’s petition was slammed by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka for being “atrocious.”
As part of its ruling, the apex court noted that the petitioner had the option of not watching the advertisements, adding that such petitions are utterly pointless.
In one of the most atrocious petitions filed by the petitioner, he stated that he subscribed to a YouTube channel that contained sexual advertisements while preparing for MP Police exams. In addition to a ban on nudity in advertisements, he sought Rs 75 lakh in compensation. “You can ignore the ad if you don’t like it. Why he viewed it is up to him. Such petitions are a waste of judicial time,” the bench said.
The bench initially fined the petitioner Rs one lakh, but he later apologised to the court, claiming his parents work as labourers, and asked the court to withdraw the fine.
Upon hearing this, Justice Kaul responded, “You think you can come to this court whenever you want publicity. I will reduce the costs, but I will not forgive you.” (Aap ko lagta hain ki publicity ke liye jab chahe idhar aa sakte ho. Cost kam kar dunga lekin maaf nahi karuna).
After reducing the costs to Rs 25,000 from Rs 75 lakh, the bench asked the petitioner to deposit it with the Supreme Court Mediation Centre.
The apex court decision came after Choudhary, a MA student, filed a lawsuit seeking Rs 75 lakh compensation from YouTube, claiming the platform’s sexual advertisements distracted him from preparing for exams.
A blanket ban on nudity on social media platforms was also requested because he failed the Madhya Pradesh police exam due to distractions.
