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Delhi High Court directs Congress leaders to remove social media posts against Smriti Irani, daughter

Justice Mini Pushkarna issued the directive on a civil defamation suit filed by Union minister Smriti Irani seeking damages of over Rs 2 crore for allegedly making baseless allegations against her and her daughter.

Delhi High Court directs Congress leaders to remove social media posts against Smriti Irani, daughter
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New Delhi, First Published Jul 29, 2022, 1:24 PM IST

In a major setback for the Congress party, the Delhi High Court on Friday issued an interim injunction directing party leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'souza to delete all related posts from social media platforms against Union Minister Smirti Irani.

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Justice Mini Pushkarna issued the directive on a civil defamation suit filed by Union minister Smriti Irani seeking damages of over Rs 2 crore for allegedly making baseless allegations against her and her daughter.

The three Congress leaders, who were issued summons in the civil defamation case on Friday, have to remove posts, videos, tweets, retweets and photos from social media in relation to the allegations made against the minister of Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Irani, and her daughter.

The court said that the social media platforms shall take down the material if the defendants fail to comply with its directions within 24 hours.

Reacting to the high court directive, Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to say: "The Delhi High Court has issued a notice asking us to formally reply to the case filed by Smriti Irani. We look forward to presenting the facts before the court. We will challenge and disprove the spin being put out by Irani."

Irani had approached the high court after the Congress leaders alleged that her 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this, demanding that she be sacked from the Narendra Modi Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the Goa Excise Commissioner took up a complaint filed by lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues alleging that the licence to run a controversial upmarket restaurant in Assagao in North Goa was obtained "illegally" and that it was renewed this year in the name of a person who died in 2021.

The outlet, 'Silly Souls Caf and Bar', was at the centre of a raging controversy after the Congress last week alleged Union minister Smriti Irani's daughter was linked to the property. The lawyer of Irani's daughter has said his client is neither an owner nor operating the restaurant in question.

On July 21, the Excise Commissioner issued a show-cause notice to the outlet on the complaint filed by Rodrigues. Rodrigues, in his complaint, said the excise rules in Goa allow a bar licence to be issued only to an existing restaurant, but norms were violated in the present case.

With PTI Inputs

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