Delhi High Court Orders Removal Of Tweets By Congress Leaders Against Journalist Rajat Sharma

The Delhi High Court has ordered removal of tweets made by Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera alleging that senior journalist Rajat Sharma used abusive language on air during a show on the election result day.

Granting ex-parte ad interim injunction order in favour of Sharma in his defamation suit, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ordered:

“…it is directed that the X Posts/Tweets which have not been removed, be removed within seven days by defendants in terms of the Intermediary Guidelines.”

The court further directed that the videos which are in the public domain be made private by Google India Private Limited and not to be put in the public domain, without judicial orders.

The URLs ordered to be removed are YouTube videos and Twitter posts made by the three Congress leaders, Indian National Congress and other users.

The controversy arose after Congress national spokesperson Ragini Nayak accused Sharma of abusing her on national television on the counting day of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The court said that the balance of convenience was in Sharma's favour as by making the videos private or injuncting them from being available on the public platforms, would not, in any way, infringe on the rights of the defendants of freedom of speech and expression which they can exercise within the defined parameters.

“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,” the court said.

Justice Krishna noted that the three Congress leaders posted an edited video on X claiming it to be the 'Raw Footage' of the debate held on the voting day on India TV New Channel.

However, the court said, that from the footage of the TV debate which was played in the Court, it was prima facie evident that Rajat Sharma had barely intervened for a few seconds and no abusive language was used against Ragini Nayak.

“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 have a potential of bringing disrepute to the Plaintiff in future with practically no reparation to the damage to his reputation,” the court said.

It added there is a thin line of distinction exists between defamation and public criticism and an onerous task lies with the Courts to maintain the delicate balance between the competing claims and rights.

“While the threshold of public criticism and alleged defamatory X posts/Tweets and YouTube videos on intermediary platforms is much higher, but the individual dignity and honour of a person cannot be allowed to be defamed or disrepute brought to him on the ground of Right of Free Speech and Expression,” the court said.

Furthermore, Justice Sharma prima facie observed there was no abuse given by Rajat Sharma to Nayak but in subsequent videos, insertion was made that “Rajat Sharma Ne Di Gaali” which prima facie was a “total misrepresentation of the true facts.”

The court said that “convoluted insulations” were made by Nayak which were targeted at damaging Sharma's reputation.

“The irreparable loss and injury would be caused to the plaintiff for if the videos and Tweets, etc as mentioned above, is allowed to be in the public domain, it would continue to cause harm to his reputation as a respectable Journalist which would cause irreparable harm to the plaintiff,” the court said.

In a public response shared on X, India TV tagged Nayak and Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera and said that the allegations made by them on their social media posts are “absolutely false and lacked any basis and foundation whatsoever.”

The post also said that the allegations are malicious and defamatory and constitute fake news.

It further said that Sharma, who has been in journalism profession for more than four decades, has a very high degree of credibility and reputation and is known for his cultured and civilised behaviour, both on and off air.

“You have blatantly violated all limits of public decency by falsely accusing a personality of high repute. We are taking legal advice on this to take further action,” the post added.

Later, Sharma also posted a video on X stating that he never raised his voice on anyone and never disrespect anyone.

Counsel for Plaintiff: Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Sandeep Chatterjee, Mr. Rohan Swarup, Mr. Kunal Vats, Mr. Sanyam Suri & Ms. Tanya Arora, Advocates

Title: Rajat Sharma v. X Corp & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 725

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