Delhi High Court orders Congress leaders to remove tweets against journalist
Delhi High Court orders Congress leaders to remove tweets against journalist
The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of tweets made by Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, and Ragini Nayak, alleging that journalist Rajat Sharma used abusive language on air during a recent show.
In a defamation case filed by Sharma, the chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ordered that the posts on X "which have not been removed, be removed within seven days."
A controversy erupted after Nayak accused Sharma of abusing her on television during a debate on the counting day of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and shared the video. Other Congress leaders also reposted the same, criticizing Sharma.
However, the court noted that it was evident from the footage of the TV debate played in the court that Sharma had "barely intervened for a few seconds and no abusive language was used" against Nayak.
The High Court also noted that irreparable loss and injury would be caused to the journalist's reputation if the videos and posts on X were allowed to remain in the public domain.
The court has also asked for the removal of videos on YouTube and directed that the videos which are in the public domain be made private by Google. Such videos cannot be put in the public domain without judicial orders, the court said.
"However, the inconvenience that would result from these videos and X posts/Tweets etc., continuing to remain in public domain, has the potential to cause an inconvenience which may not be possible to be reparated or compensated by damages or otherwise, in future," Justice Krishna said in his order.
The court also noted that the Congress leaders posted an edited video on X, claiming it to be the 'raw footage' of the debate held on the voting day on the channel.
"No harm would be caused to the defendants [Congress leaders] if the material is restrained from remaining in public domain till the suit is adjudicated on merits, while these tweets have a potential of bringing disrepute to the plaintiff [Rajat Sharma] in future with practically no reparation to the damage to his reputation," the court added.
The High Court issued summons to the defendants, including the three Congress leaders, X Corp, Google India, and Meta Platforms, and listed the case for further hearing on July 11.
Watch Live TV in English
Watch Live TV in Hindi