Nakkheeran withdraws transfer petition in Supreme Court against Isha Foundation

Tamil news magazine Nakkheeran on Monday withdrew its petition before the Supreme Court seeking transfer of Isha Foundation’s defamation suit from the Delhi High Court to the Madras High Court [Nakkheeran Vs Google India]..The magazine reserved its right to pursue appropriate remedies before the Delhi High courtA Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi noted the same in its order.said "On the joint mentioning of counsels, the main case is taken on record. The Ld. Senior counsel submits that he may be permitted to withdraw the TP to move appropriate applications before the Delhi HC where the suit is pending raising all the objections regarding non maintainability of the suit mentioned in this TP. This TP has been dismissed as withdrawn. We have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case," the Court said..Spiritual organisation Isha Foundation, led by Jaggi Vasudev (popularly known as Sadhguru), filed a civil suit in December 2024 before the Delhi High Court seeking the takedown of allegedly defamatory videos and articles published by Tamil investigative journal Nakkheeran and circulated on platforms such as YouTube. The Foundation also sought ₹3 crore in damages from Nakkheeran and its editor RR Gopal. Google LLC was arrayed as a defendant in the suit for allegedly hosting and indexing the disputed content through YouTube and its search engine..The suit claimed that Nakkheeran has continued to publish serious allegations against the Foundation including claims of coercion, exploitation and unlawful confinement of individuals. These include repeated references to a habeas corpus petition that was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court in October 2023.The said habeas corpus petition was filed by the father of two adult women, aged 42 and 39, who alleged that his daughters were being “brainwashed” and detained at the Isha Yoga Centre. A Bench of then Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra interacted with both women during the proceedings and found that they had chosen to reside at the Foundation voluntarily..“We had spoken to both the ladies and recorded. Both of them said that they are living there on free will and we need to close the habeas corpus plea,” the top court had observed, while disposing of the petition. The Court, however, had clarified that its order would not prevent the police or other authorities from pursuing any criminal investigation independent of the habeas proceedings.According to Isha Foundation, despite such an order by the top court, Nakkheeran continued to publish and circulate material implying wrongdoing by the organisation.These actions amount to defamation and have caused reputational harm, the Isha Foundation said it in its defamation suit before the Delhi High Court.Nakkheeran then moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the defamation case from Delhi to Madras High Court..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Isha Foundation said,"This man (Nakkheeran's editor) is going on unabated. He’s saying I’m indulging in organ trade in America.".Senior Advocate R Balasubramanian, who appeared for the magazine, however objected to the same and contended that only an interim application filed by Isha was listed in the Court today and not the main plea itself. .However, the Court suggested that Nakkheeran pursue its remedies before the Delhi High Court where the defamation suit is presently being heard. The plea was thus withdrawn.