‘Dalai Lama was being playful’: Delhi HC rejects plea for action over video clip

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking action under the child sex abuse law against the Dalai Lama over a video of the 89-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader kissing a child, observing that he was trying to be “playful” with the boy.

A bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela opined that the child expressed the desire to hug the leader and the Dalai Lama was trying to humour the child.

“This court has seen the video and finds that it has happened in full public glare. It was the minor who had expressed his desire and intent to meet and hug the respondent. If the video is seen in its overall perspective, it can be said that Respondent No 4 (Dalai Lama) was trying to be playful and trying to humour the child. It has also to be seen in the context of Tibetan culture,” the bench said, rejecting a public interest litigation filed by the Confederation of NGOs.

“The fact that he heads a religious sect which is not in the best of terms vide “foreign power” has also to be borne in mind while dealing with such petitions. This court takes judicial notice of the fact that respondent 4 (Dalai Lama) has already expressed his apology to those who may have been offended by his action,” the court maintained.

A controversy erupted in April 2023 over a video of the Dalai Lama’s interaction with a child at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, where the spiritual leader and the Tibetan government-in-exile are based. In the video, the Dalai Lama can be seen inviting the boy to the platform where he was seated, and gesturing to his cheek, after which the child kissed him before giving him a hug. The boy then asked if he could kiss the Dalai Lama, following which the leader could be heard saying, “You can also suck my tongue”.

The Dalai Lama’s private office responded to the public outrage over the video clip with an apology. “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an ‘innocent and playful’ way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident,” the statement issued on April 10, 2023 said.

The petition, filed through advocate Noopur Singhal, had complained that the way the leader hugged and kissed the child was improper, inadequate, inappropriate, uncalled for and classified as an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (Pocso Act). It contended that the authorities failed in their duty to safeguard child rights and protect them from sexual harassment and had made a mockery of the whole system.

“The muzzled attitude of the authorities would prove to be detrimental to the secured future of 480 million children i.e., more than one-third of India’s total population and as such, they may not be able to approach the Hon’ble Court to obtain an appropriate remedy,” the plea said.

During the hearing on Tuesday, lawyer Namrata Mishra appearing for the NGO, urged the court to take suo moto cognisance of the entire incident. Mishra also contended that several media outlets had published the video and further requested the court to pass an order redacting the child’s identity.

The court dismissed the plea, saying it was not premeditated.

“It all happened in public glare. He (Dalai Lama) has a state which is inimical to him. It’s not something premeditated. To get into all this? It’s not a public interest litigation (PIL) that we will entertain. The government will examine it. We don’t want to get into this. There is no public interest. It is not a PIL that we should entertain. There are large number of gurus who even kick people. What do we do? It’s not our domain. We cannot get into this,” the bench observed.