New Delhi, July 1: Lawyers representing Raghav Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have welcomed the Delhi High Court‘s recent order directing the removal of five prima facie defamatory posts circulating on social media against him. They stated that this decision clarifies that the freedom of expression cannot be misused to conduct “monetarily sponsored and organized defamation and character assassination campaigns” against individuals.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court deemed five posts shared on social media as prima facie defamatory and ordered their removal. However, the court did not accept Chadha’s request to remove all online content he identified, nor did it grant him interim relief to protect his personality and publicity rights comprehensively.
In a statement following the ruling, advocates Sattya Anand and Nikhil Aradhye, representing Raghav Chadha, expressed, “The order from the honorable single judge of the Delhi High Court is commendable. By directing the removal of defamatory content against Raghav Chadha, the court has taken a significant step towards ensuring protection against organized defamation on social media.”
They further stated, “This order reinforces the principle that one cannot launch a campaign to tarnish someone’s image and engage in character assassination under the guise of freedom of expression.”
According to the lawyers, during the hearing, it was revealed that a coordinated and allegedly paid social media campaign was being run through various professional agencies to damage the public image and reputation of Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha.
The statement highlighted that the materials presented before the court indicated that multiple social media accounts and influencers, who were compensated through influencer marketing agencies, were sharing similar defamatory posts across different platforms within minutes. This suggests a planned effort to disseminate false information and cause irreparable harm to the MP’s reputation.
Chadha’s lawyers emphasized that this ruling is a crucial step towards ensuring swift action in cases of organized online defamation and protecting the dignity of public discourse.
Previously, Justice Subramanyam Prasad’s single bench stated that prima facie, this case does not constitute a violation of personality rights. However, the court ordered the removal of the five online posts, recognizing them as prima facie defamatory.
During the hearing, Justice Prasad remarked, “The question of personality rights does not arise in this case. However, I have only ordered the removal of five documents. The remaining content is not prima facie defamatory.”
Raghav Chadha had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking protection against the alleged unauthorized use and misuse of his name, image, identity, and personality. He alleged that false propaganda was being disseminated through artificial intelligence (AI)-generated, deepfake, and morphed content, suggesting that he “sold himself for money” to join the BJP after leaving the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
During the hearing, the High Court also commented that the identified content appeared to be criticism of a political decision rather than a case of personality rights violation. However, the court acknowledged that the line between criticism and defamation is quite thin.
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