Television anchor Sudhir Chaudhary informed the Delhi High Court that every post wrongly linking activist Vijay Sherawat to slogans about "destroying" Parliament has now been pulled down from social media. The statement came during a hearing before Justice Tushar Rao Gedela in a ₹5 crore defamation suit filed by Sherawat.
Sherawat had approached the Court against Chaudhary and public broadcaster DD News over an episode of the show DECODE, aired on August 27. The broadcast, according to the plaint, showed Sherawat's image and identified him as the man heard saying, "Sansad bhawan ukhad diya jayega... Nepal bana diya jayega," during a protest linked to the Cockroach Janata Party.
Sherawat has denied making the statement, saying it was spoken by someone else at a different event altogether. The suit claims no verification was done before the broadcast, that he was never given a chance to respond, and that the clip spread rapidly online, drawing threats to his life.
Appearing for Chaudhary and his production house, Essprit Productions, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan told the Bench that the posts had already been removed.
"I have taken it down on my own. We have taken a conscious decision to take it down... We have also written to social media intermediaries, saying that if any of our posts are there by third parties with you, please take them down also," he submitted, adding that he had no objection to directions being passed against the platforms as well.
The Court also took note of a procedural lapse, pointing out that Sherawat had deposited only ₹100 against a required court fee of nearly ₹4.90 lakh. His counsel sought additional time, citing that Sherawat is a student, and the Bench allowed the extension.
While Krishnan argued that nothing survived in the matter once the posts were removed, Sherawat's side insisted on pursuing the case.
The Court has listed the matter for further hearing in January.
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