The Delhi High Court has directed restoration of the YouTube channel “4PM”, which was blocked pursuant to directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), while permitting authorities to continue proceedings against allegedly objectionable content posted on the channel.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed the order in a plea filed by Sanjay Sharma and another challenging the blocking of the “4PM” YouTube channel and seeking quashing of the government’s blocking order.
The petitioners informed the Court that prior to its blocking, the “4PM” channel had around 83 lakh subscribers and approximately 1.45 crore monthly views.
According to the plea, YouTube informed the petitioners on March 12, 2026 that it had received directions from MeitY under Rule 16(2) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 to block the channel. The petitioners were subsequently informed that the blocking related to issues of “national security or public order.”
The petitioners further contended that 27 videos from the channel had been blocked, but the final order dated March 24, 2026 passed by the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) was never communicated to them. Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, argued that non-disclosure of the blocking order and reasons deprived the petitioners of an effective opportunity to defend themselves.
Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma submitted that the IDC had found the material detrimental to India’s national security, sovereignty, and public order. He also referred to prior instances allegedly showing breach of statutory obligations by the petitioners.
The Court, however, noted that while approximately 50,000 videos had been uploaded on the channel, only a small fraction around 26 videos had been found objectionable. The Court also referred to earlier orders passed in similar matters where YouTube channels/accounts were permitted to resume operations subject to blocking of offending content pending adjudication by the IDC.
Balancing equities without delving into the larger legal questions raised in the petition, the Court directed the petitioners to appear before the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) on a date to be fixed by it. The Court further directed the IDC to specifically identify the allegedly objectionable videos and grant sufficient opportunity to the petitioners to explain or justify the content. It also ordered YouTube to temporarily suspend or block the objectionable videos, following which the “4PM” YouTube channel would be restored.
The Court clarified that further proceedings regarding the disputed content would remain subject to final adjudication by the IDC and competent authorities. It also directed that any recommendations of the IDC to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting be supplied to the petitioners.
Additionally, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was granted liberty to monitor future content posted on the channel and take appropriate action in accordance with law if any further objectionable material is uploaded.
Appearances:
For the Petitioners: Mr Akhil Sibal, Sr Adv with Mr S M Haider Rizvi, Mr Talha Abdul Rahman, Ms Jahnavi Sindhu, Mr Sudhanshu Tewari, Mr Krishnesh Bapat, Mr Faizan Ahmed, Mr Shuktiz Sinha, Advs.
For the Respondents: Mr. Chetan Sharma, ASG with Mr. Amit Tiwari, CGSC, Mr. R V Prabhat Mr. Amit Gupta, Mr. Shubham Sharma, Mr. Yash Wardhan Sharma,
Mr. Naman, Advs. Ms. Mamta Rani Jha, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Shruttima Ehersa, Ms. Aiswarya Debardarshini, Mr. Ankit Tripathi, Ms. Jahanvi Agarwal, Advs. for R-4.
