Karnataka HC stays order directing Twitter to block Congress, Bharat Jodo Yatra accounts

Bengaluru, Nov 08: The Karnataka High Court on Monday stayed the lower court order of blocking Twitter accounts of Congress and Bharat Jodo Yatra for allegedly using sound records of the film KGF Chapter-2.

The HC's order applies with the condition that the Congress must must remove all copyrighted material from their official social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, by tomorrow.

The complaint was filed by MRT music and FIR was lodged against Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate at Yeshwanthpur Police Station.

Reacting to the development, Congress said it was not made aware of the case and was not present at the court proceedings.

"We have read on social media about an adverse order from a Bengaluru court against INC & BJY SM handles. We were neither made aware of nor present at court proceedings. No copy of the order has been received. We are pursuing all the legal remedies at our disposal," the Congress said in a tweet.

The complainant alleged that Jairam Ramesh had on his official Twitter handle posted two videos of the yatra, in which popular songs from KGF-2 film were used without permission.

"The said videos were made using the popular sound recordings owned and held by the complainant. The said sound recordings are that of the cinematographic film "KGF Chapter 2" (Hindi version) which is popular globally," Kumar alleged.

"On perusal of the videos, it is clear that all the accused have fraudulently, blatantly and slavishly with an intention of making wrongful gains have unauthorizedly and illegally used the sound recording owned and held by the Complainant." The Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra began from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 and is expected to reach Jammu on January 30, 2023.

Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress' mass outreach rogramme has so far covered five southern states, namely Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It will traverse through different states in this course.