- The Delhi High Court ruled on a defamation case filed by BJP leader Shazia Ilmi against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai over a video he posted on social media platform ‘X’.
- The video allegedly depicted Ilmi abusing a video journalist from India Today during a televised debate.
- Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora partially ruled in Ilmi’s favor but imposed a Rs. 25,000 cost on her.
- The cost was due to her willfully suppressing two tweets from the same conversation thread as Sardesai’s tweet.
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“A Plaintiff alleging defamation on a social media platform arising out of a conversation thread must mandatorily disclose the full conversation thread, particularly her own tweets/comments as well, and should approach the Court with clean hands,” the Court stated.
- The court observed that a part of the video showed Ilmi leaving the debate and moving out of the camera frame.
- Justice Arora ruled that recording and publishing this portion of the video violated Ilmi’s right to privacy.
“The Defendant (Sardesai) could not have recorded or used the said portion of the video in the absence of the Plaintiff’s express consent,” the Court held.
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- Based on this, the Court confirmed an earlier order from August that directed Sardesai to remove the video until the final disposal of the defamation suit.
- The case stemmed from a televised debate on India Today related to the Agniveer scheme.
- Ilmi claimed that she left midway because her microphone was cut off, which she alleged was an attempt to censor her.
- Sardesai later tweeted the video, stating that Ilmi chucked the mic and allegedly abused the video journalist before throwing him out of her house.
- The High Court ruled that Sardesai can retain the first part of his tweet, as Ilmi did not object to it.
- However, the Court found that the second part of his tweet, where he said, “chuck the mike and throw him out of your house”, was not protected under the defense of truth.
“The comments of the Defendant No.1 in the second part of the text portion of the Impugned Quote Tweet i.e., ‘chuck the mike and throw him out of your house,’ cannot stand as the same are not protected by the defense of truth, for not being substantially correct. Therefore, the Defendant No.1 cannot retain the said comments,” the Court ruled.
- On the other hand, the Court ruled that Sardesai could retain another portion of his tweet stating, “abuse our video journalist and no excuse for bad behavior,” as it was protected by the defense of truth.
“The allegation of the Plaintiff that the impugned video is doctored is not prima facie made out. The Plaintiff did not place on record anything to substantiate that the impugned video is doctored. Further, the IT Local Commissioner appointed by this Court did not return a positive finding stating the impugned video is doctored,” the Court added.
- In an earlier order, the Delhi High Court had directed Sardesai to remove the video from ‘X’ until the final disposal of the defamation suit.
- This ruling has now been reaffirmed by the Court.
Title: SHAZIA ILMI v. RAJDEEP SARDESAI & ORS.
