Defamation: Delhi High Court Directs Take Down Of Tweets Against Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia, Orders YouTube Videos To Be Made Private

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday passed an ad-interim injunction order in favour of Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia in his defamation suit against various YouTube channels and X users for posting allegedly “defamatory content” against him over an assault on him last month during a lawyer's strike at the Gautam Budh Nagar District & Sessions Court.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna disposed of Bhatia's application seeking interim relief in his defamation suit against the YouTube channels and X users.

The court directed that various X posts or tweets against Bhatia be taken down from the social media platform. 

It further ordered that various allegedly defamatory YouTube videos be made private, till the disposal of Bhatia's defamation suit.

“Such being the imminent threat of misuse of the videos in future, which are prima facie depicting applicant/plaintiff in a light which may not be the true facts, is liable to be restrained from being kept in the public domain till the Suit is finally decided,” the court said.

Bhatia was represented by Advocates Raghav Awasthi and Mukesh Sharma.

Justice Krishna said that pulling Bhatia's band or manhandling him was the most reprehensible or condemnable act committed upon him.

“It is not disputed that the plaintiff is not only holding a distinguished position of Senior Advocate and is acknowledged for his expertise and experience in the legal field, but is also the Spokesperson for one of the most prominent political entity of this Country and being its Spokesperson, plays a crucial role in presenting the views of the party and communicating about its policies and initiatives in public,” the court said.

It added that the deepfake videos showing Bhatia being beaten up and his claims having been beaten are nothing but an “over-sensationalization and depiction of facts which are patently false.”

“Prima facie dissemination or playing of such videos has not only caused harm to the reputation of the plaintiff as has been asserted by him, but also has the potential of the persistent threat of being aired and used against the plaintiff at any time in future,” the court said.

It further observed that irreparable loss and injury would be caused to Bhatia if the Deepfake videos and Tweets, etc were allowed to be in the public domain and would continue to cause harm to his reputation as a respectable member of the Bar.

“No harm would be caused to the defendants if the material is restrained from remaining in public domain till the suit is adjudicated on merits, while these tweets/Memes have a potential of bringing disrepute to the Plaintiff in future with practically no reparation to the damage to his reputation,” the court said.

Summons in the suit were issued on February 06. The court had noted that suo motu cognizance of the incident has been taken by the Supreme Court.

The suit has been filed against Naveen Kumar (YouTube channel Article 19 India), Neelu Vyas (YouTube Channel The News Launcher), Professor Akhil Swami, YouTube channels Rajeev Nigam and BBI News. Other defendants are X users Sandeep Singh, Vijay Yadav, Netaflix, Sunitajadhav, Guruji, Dawood Nadaf, Drkhatra and Virus Baba I.N.D.I.A Wala.

The suit seeks a permanent and mandatory injunction against the defendants for the “abusive and defamatory statements” made by them against Bhatia on YouTube and X.

A direction is sought on Google LLC and X to take down the allegedly defamatory content from the respective platforms.

Counsel for Plaintiff: Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Utkarsh Jaiswal and Mr. Vikas Tiwari, Advocates

Counsel for Defendants: Mr. Hemraj Singh, Advocate for D-1 Mr.Mehood Pracha, Mr. Sanawar and Mr. Jatin Bhatt, Advocates for D-2 & 3; Mr. Ruman Ali, Mr. Askim Naeem and Mr. Muzakkir Zama, Advocates for D-6; Mr. Aditya Gupta, Ms. Aishwarya Kan and Mr. Sauhard Alung, Advocates for D-14

Title: GAURAV BHATIA v. NAVEEN KUMAR & ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 459

Click here to read order