"Don't Have To Be So Sensitive In Politics": Delhi HC Refuses To Interfere With Single Judge's Order In Kailash Gahlot's Defamation Plea Against BJP MLA

The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the single judge order which had declined to grant ex-parte injunction in a civil defamation suit filed by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot against BJP MLA Vijender Gupta for allegedly making defamatory remarks about him over procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses.

Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh were given an oral assurance by the counsel appearing for Vijender Gupta that he will not make any press statement or tweet on the issue till September 20, the next date of hearing.

"In politics, you (Gahlot) don't have to be so sensitive about it," Justice Sanghi told Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar who was appearing on behalf of Kailash Gahlot in the matter.

The Court was dealing with an appeal challenging a single judge order passed by Justice Asha Menon dated August 27, 2021 wherein the Court declined to pass any ex parte injunction restraining Gupta from making defamatory allegations about Gahlot on social media platforms. 

The judge was of the view that prima facie no personal allegation was specifically made against Gahlot to the extent of saying that the entire transaction appeared to be a scam.

It was the case of Gahlot that Gupta had, without any justifiable cause or reason, defamed him since March this year by posting scandalous and libelous material in the form of tweets, Facebook posts and press releases.

Gupta had alleged that Gahlot had committed corruption in awarding the tender for maintenance of DTC buses to Tata Motors and JBM Auto Ltd and was aware of the entire terms and conditions of the tender, however, he chose to object to the said tender only after it was awarded.

A civil suit for defamation was then filed by Gahlot seeking damages of Rs. 5 crores for defaming him and causing loss to his reputation. Apart from this, mandatory injunction was also sought to immediately delete all the defamatory posts made against him on Twitter and Facebook.

The matter will now be heard on September 20.

Title: Kailash Gahlot v. Vijender Gupta & Ors.