New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a directive for the removal of alleged defamatory material circulating on social media platforms against BJP spokesperson and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia. This decision comes in response to an incident at a Noida court where Bhatia was reportedly manhandled.
The high court said while the threshold of public criticism and alleged defamatory posts on social media platforms is much higher, individual dignity and honour cannot be allowed to be defamed on the grounds of the right to free speech and expression.
The Delhi HC court passed the order to remove defamatory content from social media platforms stems from an application filed by Gaurav Bhatia seeking interim relief. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna strongly denounced the manhandling incident at the Gautam Buddh Nagar court, emphasising that while advocates may have been on strike, Bhatia had agreed to an adjournment when informed, a decision that was duly granted. “In these circumstances, pulling his band or manhandling as has been stated by him in his plaint, was the most reprehensible/ condemnable act committed upon him,” the high court said, reported PTI.
The court said the press and the media had a duty to report this incident for the benefit of the public, but there was also a corresponding duty to remain truthful about the incident. The deepfake videos showing Bhatia being beaten up and the claims of the plaintiff are nothing but an over-sensationalisation and depiction of facts that are patently false, it said.
The court said dissemination of such videos has not only caused harm to his reputation but also has the potential of persistent threat of being aired and used against him in future and the content is liable to be restrained from being kept in the public domain till the suit is finally decided. It said an irreparable loss and injury would be caused to the plaintiff if the deepfake videos and posts are allowed to be in the public domain and no harm would be caused to defendants if the material is restrained from being in the public domain. The suit was filed against several YouTube channels and X (formerly Twitter) handles.
SC Took Cognisance Of The Incident
The Delhi High Court instructed intermediaries to remove content posted on several handles that have not contested or appeared in the proceedings, while restraining other videos that have been made private from being made available to the public without judicial orders. Earlier, the court had issued summons to 13 defendant YouTube channels and X handles in response to a defamation suit filed by Gaurav Bhatia, who seeks over Rs 2 crore in damages for allegedly defamatory statements made against him on X and YouTube platforms.
Bhatia's legal representatives sought a permanent injunction against the defendants to prevent the publication of any defamatory allegations. Additionally, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the alleged manhandling of Bhatia in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district court on March 20, directing the preservation of CCTV footage and the submission of a report on the incident.
The Supreme Court Bar Association had also condemned the misconduct of a lawyer in the district court against Bhatia.