Supreme Court imposes Rs 25K cost on man accusing YouTube of distracting him with obscene ads during exam preparation

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by a man seeking Rs 75 lakh compensation from YouTube for allegedly carrying sexually explicit advertisements, which, he claimed, distracted him during his preparation for Madhya Pradesh Police examination.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka slammed petitioner Anand Kishor Choudhary for filing an “atrocious" petition and imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on him for "utter wastage" of the court's time.

The petitioner could have chosen not to watch the advertisements, the court said.

“This is one of the most atrocious petitions filed by the petitioner stating that while he was preparing for MP Police exams, he subscribed to YouTube where there were sexually explicit advertisements. He sought notice to YouTube and a ban on nudity in ads and Rs 75 lakh compensation. If you do not like the ad, do not watch it. If he watched the ad, it is his prerogative. Such petitions are utter waste of judicial time," the bench said.

Choudhary sought Rs 75 lakh compensation from Google-owned streaming platform, YouTube. He alleged that he was distracted by the sexual content in advertisements on the platform while he was preparing for the exam and hence unable to clear the Madhya Pradesh police recruitment examination.

He also sought a blanket ban on nudity on social media platforms.

Initially, the bench was inclined to impose Rs one lakh cost on the petitioner. However, he apologised profusely to the court, claiming his parents are labourers and sought to withdraw the petition.

On this, the bench said, “You think, you can come to this court whenever you want publicity. I will reduce the costs but will not forgive you.

The bench then reduced the cost to Rs 25,000.

As the petitioner said that he is unemployed, the bench said, recovery will be done if you don't pay.