Delhi High Court Holds 'X' User Guilty Of Contempt Of Court For Making 'Defamatory Tweets' Against TV Today Despite Restraint Orders

The Delhi High Court recently held an 'X' (formerly 'Twitter') user guilty of committing contempt of court for making “defamatory tweets” against TV Today Network despite restraint orders passed against him in 2020.

Justice Rekha Palli directed Thakkar to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh, taking into account that the offending tweets were removed by him and that he had tendered an unconditional apology for making the tweets.

The court was dealing with a suit filed in 2020 by TV Today Network Limited, which operates news channels namely Aaj Tak and India Today.

The news company sued Thakkar alleging that during the COVID-19 lockdown, he published 35 tweets on his X handle at one go using derogatory and defamatory language against TV Today, its management, employees and anchors.

Another defendant in the suit is Aadhyaasi Media And Content Services Private Limited, which republished Thakkar's tweets.

In 2020, the court restrained Thakkar from publishing defamatory or derogatory tweets against TV Today or its employees on any social media platform, including X.

An application was later moved by the news company seeking action against Thakkar for having blatantly disobeyed the court's directions.

During the hearing on December 20, 2023, Thakkar's counsel, Advocate Raghav Awasthi, submitted that the social media user was tendering his unconditional apology for having made the defamatory tweets despite the restraint orders.

The court was also informed that the subject tweets were removed and thus, it was prayed that the application be disposed of by accepting Thakkar's apology.

Justice Palli observed that when a party knowingly acts in violation of the judicial directions, it would be against the interest of justice to simply accept Thakkar's oral apology, that too without any explanation for having made the tweets despite restraint orders.

“The conduct of the defendant no.1 shows that he has been utterly defiant of the orders passed by this Court and, therefore, should be dealt with a heavy hand,” the court said.

It directed that Rs. 1 lakh fine be paid by Thakkar to the Delhi High Court Bar Clerk's Association, which amount will be used only for the welfare of families of those clerks who lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awasthi further told the court that Thakkar was not willing to amicably resolve the matter and was not agreeable to file any affidavit to undertake that he will not publish any defamatory tweets against TV Today or its management in the future.

Since he prayed for the suit to be proceeded with on merits, the court said:

“In the light of this stand taken by the defendant no.1, it prima facie appears to this Court that this is a fit case where costs should be imposed on the defendant no.1 under Chapter XXIII Rule 1 of the Delhi High Court(Original Side) Rules. Learned counsel for the defendant no.1 prays for time to obtain instructions and make submissions.”

The matter will now be heard on April 1st, 2024.

Earlier, on May 06, 2020, the court had observed that Thakkar's tweets made wild allegations against TV Today and also used derogatory and defamatory language against the news company, its management and its employees. 

“The tweets are also very offensive and some contain abusive language. Such a campaign against the Plaintiff, its management and employees can be extremely damaging to their reputation and also cause personal injury to them and their family members. The tweets are in bad taste and use objectionable language including abuses,” the court had said.

Later, in November 2020, the court had directed Thakkar to take down the tweets from his Twitter account within 48 hours.

Title: T.V.TODAY NETWORK LIMITED v. SAMEET THAKKAR & ANR.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 24