Madras High Court Orders YouTuber To Pay 50 Lakh Compensation To Transgender Politician Apsara Reddy For Defamation

Justice N Sathish Kumar observed that the statements made by Praveen were derogatory and nothing but humiliation to Reddy. The court noted that because of the defamatory statements, some programs in which Reddy was supposed to talk had been cancelled.

The court observed that though a person had a right to post on YouTube, he could not cross his limit and encroach upon the privacy of others. The court added that the right of publication is subject to reasonable restriction and when statements are made touching upon the character, behavior and personal life of any individual, it would have serious impact.

“Merely because a person has a right to post in YouTube, he cannot cross his limit encroaching upon the privacy of others. Though the publication is a right, such a right is subject to reasonable restrictions and cannot be encroached upon the privacy of others. When such statements are surfaced, particularly in social media like YouTube touching upon the character, behaviour and personal life of any individual, it will have serious impact in that particular area,” the court said.

Reddy, who is currently the Official Spokesperson of AIADMK informed the court that she was also appointed as the National General Secretary of All India Mahila Congress and had been invited by various politicians and celebrities including Amit Shah and J Jayalalithaa to discuss issues of women empowerment and hurdles and problems faced by the transgender community in India.

Reddy informed the court that in 2017, while Reddy was working as one of the editors in Provogue magazine, Praveen expressed his desire to do a joint video or program with Reddy. However, when Reddy refused, Praveen became angry and thereafter started gossiping and circulating bad notions about Reddy and defaming her social activities.

Reddy added that Praveen used to make his livelihood by posting and publishing defamatory articles and commentaries with false, suppressed, and manipulative details on famous personalities and upload videos about them without their consent.

Giving details of the defamatory and derogatory videos posted by Praveen, Reddy informed the court that some programs where she was invited to speak had been cancelled. She added that because of the defamatory videos, she was put through mental agony and depression and had to go for many sessions of counselling with a psychologist. Thus, she had claimed damages to the tune of 1.25 crore.

The court, upon perusing the defamatory statements and videos, was convinced that they were noting but malicious and defamatory touching upon the privacy of the individuals. Thus, the court noted that though the entire damages claimed could not be granted, some compensation had to be made.

“The reputation of the plaintiff has been lowered to such a level that many of the programmes of the plaintiff has been cancelled abruptly. Cancellation of such programmes abruptly is mainly because of the circulation of the malicious contents in the social media. All these factors clearly indicate that though the damages cannot be certain, the plaintiff has to be compensated atleast for a sum of Rs.50 lakhs,” the court said.

Counsel for the Plaintiff: Mr.V.Raghavachari, Senior Counsel for Mr.V.S.Sentil Kumar

Counsel for the Defendant: Mr.Mr.G.Balasubramanian for Leela & Co.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 18

Case Title: Apsara Reddy v Joe Micheal Praveen

Case No: C.S.No.127 of 2022