Delhi HC orders Congress leaders to remove tweets against journalist Rajat Sharma, BJP says 'truth prevails'

The Delhi High Court on Saturday granted interim relief to journalist Rajat Sharma, directing Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh, and Pawan Khera to delete tweets alleging that he used abusive language on air on Lok Sabha Election 2024 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 Google India Private Limited to make the videos in the public domain private and not to release them without judicial orders.

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

Reacting to the Delhi HC's order, BJP's National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to X to laud the decision stating, "Truth prevails ; attempt to bully media subverted Delhi High Court orders removal of tweets by Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh, and Pawan Khera alleging that journalist Rajat Sharma abused Nayak on live-television."

"High Court holds that Congress leaders over-sensationalised the incident and did not remain truthful. @Jairam_Ramesh, @Pawankhera, @NayakRagini congenital fake news peddlers. Sad that a journalist like @RajatSharmaLive had to approach courts for this!"

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

The court stated that the balance of convenience favored Sharma, as making the videos private or restricting them from public platforms would not infringe on the defendants' rights to freedom of speech and expression, which they can exercise within 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, presenting it as the 'Raw Footage' of the debate that took place on voting day on India TV News Channel.

However, the court observed that the footage of the TV debate played in court showed that Rajat Sharma had only intervened briefly for a few seconds and did not use any abusive language 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 that there is a thin line between defamation and public criticism, and it is the court's onerous task to maintain a delicate balance between these 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 observed prima facie that Rajat Sharma did not abuse Nayak, but subsequent videos included the insertion “Rajat Sharma Ne Di Gaali,” which was a “total misrepresentation of the true facts.”

The court noted that Nayak made “convoluted insinuations” aimed 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, stating that their allegations on social media were “absolutely false and lacked any basis and foundation whatsoever.”

The post also described the allegations as malicious, defamatory, and constituting fake news.

Furthermore, it emphasized that Sharma, with over four decades in journalism, has a 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 posted a video on X asserting that he has never raised his voice at anyone or shown disrespect to anyone.