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New Delhi: The Supreme Court would hear on Friday a plea challenging a recent order of the Karnataka High Court quashing a media gag on reportage surrounding the controversial Dharmasthala mass burial case.

The high court on August 1 set aside an earlier gag order issued by a Bengaluru civil court restraining reportage on the burial case.

Legally, the Karnataka High Court lifted the gag order against the YouTube channel Kudla Rampage after it individually challenged it. Other media outlets remain restrained unless they seek separate legal relief.

“Around 8,000 YouTube channels are running defamatory material against the Dharmasthala temple,” an advocate submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai and sought urgent listing of an appeal against the high court order.

Harshendra Kumar D, Secretary of the Dharmasthala Temple body, moved the apex court seeking removal of what he alleges is defamatory content targeting the family that manages the temple.

On July 23, the CJI-led bench declined to hear another petition filed by YouTube channel Third Eye challenging a sweeping gag order that restrained media houses from reporting on matters related to the brother of Dharamadhikari D Veerendra Heggade of Dharamsthala in Karnataka.

The gag order was over reports on the alleged murders of women in Dharmasthala in the state’s Dakshina Kannada district.

The plea, filed against an ex parte interim order of a local court, questioned the legality of the directive which directed as many as 390 media houses to remove nearly 9,000 links and stories related to the Dharamsthala burial case.

The CJI had questioned the petitioner for not moving the high court. “You go the high court first,” the CJI said.

On Thursday, August 7, Bengaluru-based online news outlet The News Minute (TNM) has moved the Karnataka High Court, challenging gag orders that restrain it from reporting on the Dharmasthala mass burial case and the death of 17-year-old Sowjanya, who went missing from the temple premises. TNM has alleged that the orders pose a “serious threat to press freedom” and were obtained through “forum shopping and abuse of process.”

Strict action if illegal burials are confirmed: Minister

Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said disciplinary action would be taken against department officials and staff if the ongoing investigation confirms that bodies were illegally buried in forest areas in Dharmasthala.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the state government, is probing allegations of mass murder, rape, and illegal burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.

A former Dalit sanitation worker-turned-whistleblower claimed he was employed in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014 and was forced to bury several bodies, including those of women and minors. He also alleged that some of the bodies bore signs of sexual assault. The complainant has recorded a statement before a magistrate.

“The investigation is ongoing, and further action will be based on its findings. If there is any lapse or negligence on the part of forest officials, disciplinary action will be taken following the law,” Khandre told reporters here.

(With PTI inputs)