Delhi High Court Orders Removal of Defamatory Content About Politician Vijaya Sai Reddy
The Delhi High Court has instructed several news channels and social media platforms, including Google, YouTube, and Meta, to remove content alleging an extramarital affair involving politician Vijaya Sai Reddy. Vijaya Sai Reddy is a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu (YSR) Congress Party.
Justice Vikas Mahajan issued an interim order directing six news channels and several social media handles to remove the allegations. The court found these allegations to be unfounded rumours that could harm the dignity of both Reddy and the woman involved. The order aims to prevent further damage to their reputations.
The court stated, “Based on the submissions made by Advocate Amit Agrawal, counsel for Vijaya Sai Reddy, as well as the material on record, I am of the prima facie view that there is substance in the submissions made by Advocate Agrawal. The alleged videos and posts contain defamatory and libelous allegations and insinuations, made recklessly without regard to the truth, with the intent to injure the plaintiff’s reputation.”
The court added, “Considering the above-noted facts and circumstances in light of the aforesaid dicta, I am satisfied that the plaintiff has made out a case for the grant of ad interim relief. I am also satisfied that grave and irreparable loss and injury will be caused to the plaintiff if ad interim injunctive orders are not passed in his favor. The balance of convenience also lies in favor of the plaintiff.”
The court directed several news channels to take down, remove, restrict access to, or block the URLs of the mentioned YouTube videos, posts on Google, videos on Facebook, and posts on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) that contain defamatory statements against the plaintiff within a period of 10 days. The injunction order was directed at channels including ABN Andhra Jyothi, Mahaa News, TV5 News, BIG TV, Aadhan, and Wild Wolf TV.
Vijaya Sai Reddy had approached the High Court after these channels conducted panel discussions alleging that he had an extramarital affair with a woman and even fathered a child with her.
Doubts Revealed
Delhi High Court -: The Delhi High Court is a big court in Delhi, India, where important legal cases are decided.
Defamatory Content -: Defamatory content means false information that can hurt someone’s reputation or how people think about them.
Politician -: A politician is a person who works in the government and helps make laws and decisions for the country.
Vijaya Sai Reddy -: Vijaya Sai Reddy is a person who works in the government of India as a politician.
Extramarital Affair -: An extramarital affair is when a married person has a romantic relationship with someone who is not their husband or wife.
Justice Vikas Mahajan -: Justice Vikas Mahajan is a judge in the Delhi High Court who makes important decisions in legal cases.
Google, YouTube, and Meta -: Google, YouTube, and Meta are big companies that run popular websites and apps where people can search for information, watch videos, and connect with friends.
