Delhi HC orders takedown of 'obscene' Honey Singh song 'Volume 1'

The Delhi High Court ordered the Centre to remove Honey Singh and Badshah's 2006 song 'Volume 1' from all online platforms, deeming it obscene, vulgar, and derogatory towards women. Notices have been issued to the singers.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Central Government to take down the URLs of song Volume 1 of Honey Singh from all social media platforms and sharing platforms.

The Delhi High Court said that the song is obscene, vulgar and derogatory towards women. This cannot be allowed in the name of artistic freedom and freedom of speech and expression. The song was released in 2006 by Honey Singh and Badshah.

Petition Leads to Court Action

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued the direction to the Central Government on a petition moved by an organisation, namely Hindu Shakti Dal and others. The high court has also issued notice to Singers Honey Singh and Badshah and listed the matter on May 7 for hearing. The petition moved through advocates Rupali Panwar, Shubham Gupta and Avinash Kumar Singh.

During the hearing on petition, the bench said that this song is highly vulgar, obscene and derogatory towards women. It treated women as sex objects.

Advocate Rupali Panwar argued that the song is vulgar and is available on social media platform. It is accessible even to children of tender age, which is harmful for them. In order to protect them, the song should be taken down immediately from all social media platforms, YouTube and sharing platforms.

It was also submitted that Singer Honey Singh sang two lines from the song in a public concert in Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on March 1, 2025.

Judge Reviews Song, Issues Takedown Order

After hearing the hearing submissions, Justice Kaurav himself watched the song which was available on YouTube. Thereafter, he issued a direction to take down all the URLs of song and its lyrics too.

The High Court has granted liberty to the petitioner to find out more URLs and report them to the Central Government so that all the URLs are deleted.

The petitioner arraigned the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, YouTube, Google, Spotify, Honey Singh, and Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, alias Badshah.

The petitioner sought directions, including the deletion of videos and audios of the song Vol. 1 from the YouTube, Google, and Spotify platforms.

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