New Delhi, May 31 -- The Supreme Court on Friday ordered YouTube to remove a video posted on a channel containing "scandalous allegations" against a senior judge and initiated criminal contempt proceedings against the channel's editor Ajay Shukla, saying that freedom of speech cannot be used to damage the judiciary's reputation. A bench led by Chief Justice Bhushan R Gavai passed the order in suo motu contempt proceedings against a 150-second video uploaded by Shukla on May 24. The video, aired on his show "The Principle", discussed a ruling by justice Surya Kant in the case of Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah. "By an ad-interim order, we restrain YouTube from continuing the publication of the video clip and take it down from the channel," said the bench, which comprised justices AG Masih and Atul S Chandurkar. The court directed its registry to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against both Shukla and his channel, Varprad Media Pvt. Ltd. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was asked to assist in the matter, said: "This is something very serious. We are obliged that the court has taken suo motu cognisance of this." The court said: "The video clip has made scathing and scandalous allegations against one of the senior judges of this court. Such scandalous allegations widely published on YouTube is likely to bring disrepute to the august institution of the judiciary." Mehta argued the video was not only scandalous but also defamatory and contemptuous, stating that such statements cannot enjoy legal protection as the right to freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) comes with reasonable restrictions, including defamation and contempt of court....