The Karnataka High Court has directed Meta Platforms to restore the Facebook page managed by BJP state spokesperson T.N. Dileep, also known as Dileep Gowda Kunigal, after the page was geo-blocked in India in connection with a Bengaluru police case.
Justice C.M. Poonacha, hearing Dileep’s writ petition, issued the interim order and directed the investigating officer at Basavanagudi police station to instruct Meta Platforms to restore the petitioner’s social-media accounts. The court also ordered notices to Meta Platforms Inc. and Meta Platforms Technologies India Private Limited.
The court, however, told Dileep to strictly comply with an earlier magistrate court direction dated August 27, 2026. That order required him to remove objectionable links from his Facebook page. The High Court’s direction is therefore linked to the removal of the disputed content and does not amount to a final decision on the underlying criminal case or the legality of the posts.
The dispute arose after a clash between two groups on K.R. Road in Bengaluru during a Milad-un-Nabi procession on August 26, 2026. The complaint alleged that members of the Rashtriya Rakshana Pade, including Puneeth Kerehalli, Gopi Gowda, Puneeth Gowda and Chetan Naik, obstructed the procession, raised slogans and abused participants. The allegations have not been adjudicated in the proceedings described in the report.
Dileep had shared a video containing visuals from the incident on his Facebook page. Based on a complaint by procession organiser Abdul Razak Khan, Basavanagudi police registered a first information report under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The magistrate court subsequently directed Meta, X, Google and YouTube to remove the objectionable links. Dileep later claimed that, even after the links were removed, his Facebook page—reported to have more than 155,000 followers—remained geo-blocked in India. He also told the court that emails sent to Meta’s grievance redressal division seeking restoration of the page had not produced a result.
The High Court’s order places the immediate responsibility for restoration with the investigating officer, while Meta has been made a respondent and issued notice. The case illustrates how police investigations, magistrate directions and platform enforcement can intersect when social-media content is linked to a public-order incident.
The court has adjourned the matter to November 12. Further proceedings will determine the responses of Meta and the other parties and the continuing effect of the directions concerning the disputed links and the Facebook page.
