The Delhi High Court on Thursday (September 10) directed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to remove objectionable posts against BJP national spokesperson and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia. Das and Ranka agreed before the High Court to take down the posts. The court directed them to remove the posts within 24 hours.
The court was hearing Bhatia's Rs 2-crore defamation suit.
What did the court say?
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, hearing Bhatia's defamation lawsuit, observed that while the youth have the right to express, the expression has to be verified and conveyed in a manner that "goes the right way".
"There are different ways of protesting. Do you really need to go to this? You are all youngsters. You may have your own anxiety. You may want to express certain things..but saying certain things, putting certain things without verifying may not be correct," the court told the lawyers appearing for the CJP leaders.
"There is a lot of anxiety around these days, right? But there are different ways of expressing. You can express these things, you are the youth, you are the next generation. You have a right to express, but sometimes the expressions need to be put a more articulate manner; a manner which expresses your intent and goes the right way," it further said.
The counsel for Das and Ranka assured the court that the posts in question would be removed within 24 hours.
Bhatia, who appeared in person, declined the court's suggestion to refer the matter for mediation and urged the court to restrain the defendants from publishing any further allegedly defamatory posts on the issue.
Lawyers representing the CJP leaders clarified that they were not giving any undertaking against publishing future posts. Justice Gedela said Bhatia would be at liberty to approach the court again if he had any grievance regarding subsequent posts.
The counsel for the CJP leaders on Thursday informed the court that the post in question had already been deleted. "But then there is something else that you put," the judge responded.
Justice Gedela asked the lawyers appearing for Das and Ranka to take instructions on removing the other available posts, and said that he "understands" the situation as everyone "passed through the same age." "Nobody has become 60 suddenly. You go through the age that you have gone through, correct? It's not that Mr Gaurav Bhatia has not gone through this age," the judge remarked.
Court issues summons to Abhijeet Dipke
The court also issued summons to Das, Ranka, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and its founder Abhijeet Dipke in connection with Bhatia’s defamation suit.
During the hearing, the court orally observed that there appeared to be no material against Dipke in the defamation plea.
The court also permitted Bhatia to approach social media platforms X and Meta Platforms if he comes across other posts containing the allegedly fabricated graphic.
What is the case?
The case stems from certain tweets by the CJP and its leaders, which allegedly amplified a graphic containing a quote wrongly attributed to the senior lawyer.
Although Das subsequently deleted his tweet, published on September 5, for being "AI-generated", Bhatia demanded an unqualified apology.
Bhatia's lawsuit has alleged that the CJP leaders' pattern of conduct on social media showed a "consistent propensity to target individuals" through posts that malign them. "The defendant no 1 & 2 (Das and Ranka) did not merely engage in criticism, comment or disagreement with any statement actually made by the plaintiff. Rather, defendant no 1 & 2 falsely represented to the public that the plaintiff had made statements, which, in fact, he had never made," the plea said.
(With PTI inputs)
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