Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that they will delete social media posts against BJP leader and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, which purportedly falsely attributed to him that he described Swatantra Bhardwaj as a “dimagi naxali” and “jaatiwaadi.”

This, after Justice Tushar Rao Gedela earlier today orally suggested both Das and Ranka to take instructions on taking down the posts on X on their own.

As the matter resumed after passover, Saurav Das' counsel said that Das will take down the tweets against the senior advocate.

The court also recorded statement by counsel for Ashutosh Ranka that the tweet in question has already been taken down. However he stated that reposted tweet will be taken down today.

The court meanwhile asked Abhijeet Dipke and CJP to file their responses. At this stage the counsel for Dipke and CJP said that there was nothing stated against them in the suit. However Bhatia objected to this submission.

At this stage the court orally asked if the parties can be sent to mediation to resolve the dispute, to which Bhatia said that he wanted to press for damages.

The court orally remarked that the defendants were already taking down the impugned tweets, however Bhatia said that even after today's hearing, tweets were made.

Bhatia pressed for Dynamic injunction and said that this was a worse case because the defendants were "putting fake picture" connecting his name to someone who has been arrested.

He said that social media intermediaries be directed to atleast delete that picture.

The court meanwhile asked, "Have you approached them (Meta)? There are Rules provided. If they don't do it. Then come back".

Meanwhile Counsel for Meta said that in the entire plaint there is one URL which is a report by a newspaper on the incident, adding that the platform cannot proactively censor content.

The court meanwhile said that the defendants will have to file a reply after which court can consider.

Bhatia meanwhile urged that in one day, more than a million people had viewed that tweet.

"We have told them. They have said they will take down. What else? Why would they post is the question. You can come back. Why are you not having faith?," the court said, to which Bhatia said that he has full faith in the court.

"Lot of people say lot of things about courts also. We take it. You may have different reasons," the court further orally said. To which Bhatia said that Das was a "habitual offender" and that he had not even spared the judiciary.

The court meanwhile issued summons in the suit to Das, Ranka, Dipke and CJP and directed X to place on record Basic Subscriber Information details of accounts within three weeks.

"Plaintiff is permitted to approach X and Meta in case similar or identical posts or tweets appear. Platforms may consider the same and take appropriate action. In case there is impediment, both platforms are at liberty to tell Plaintiff who may take appropriate steps," the court said in its order.

The court further noted that the posts will be removed within 24 hours after the defendants counsel undertook to do the same.

The Court was hearing Bhatia's defamation suit against CJP's Abhijit Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.

Bhatia is aggrieved by a post on X Corp (formerly Twitter) published by Das and Ranka on September 05 in the aftermath of arrest of Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is accused of assaulting a teenage CJP protester.

As per the suit, the post in question is an AI generated tweet wherein it has been falsely attributed to him that he described Bhardwaj as “dimagi naxali” and “jaatiwaadi.”

He has contended that both Das and Ranka did not merely engage in criticism, comment or disagreement with any statement actually made by him but have allegedly falsely represented to the public that he made statements which, in fact, he had never made.

The impugned material was accompanied and/or associated with the photograph of the Plaintiff followed by a false/fake statement, thereby creating an unmistakable and false nexus between the Plaintiff and the words/content disseminated by the said Defendants,” the suit contends.

Further, the Rs. 2 crore defamation suit alleges that the CJP and its leaders have been consistently engaged in the practice of making public comments and publications that are calculated to lower the dignity, authority and institutional standing of the judiciary.

Regarding Das, Bhatia has specifically argued that he “recently shot to fame” by attacking Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma for not recusing herself from hearing CBI's challenge to the order discharging AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and others in the liquor policy case.

He has also referred to Das' tweet about incarceration of Umar Khalid, accused in 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. According to Bhatia, the post goes far beyond fair comment on any specific judicial order or proceeding.

“The Defendant No. 1 (Das), while holding himself out as Chief Spokesperson/Co-convenor of an unregistered collective, has chosen to publicly celebrate and endorse an individual facing serious criminal allegations by declaring the judicial process itself to be permanently stained, thereby demonstrating a propensity to use social-media platforms for institutional denigration,” the suit states.

Further, Bhatia has said that the Defendants, operating under the “banner of an unregistered association that publicly claims to have "no political links" and to be fighting a cause "bigger than any party," systematically utilise social-media platforms to comment upon, criticise and attack the judiciary in a manner that goes beyond fair comment on specific orders and enters the realm of broad institutional aspersion.

“Such conduct is further exemplified by recent publications in which comparisons and analogies of a highly pejorative nature have been drawn involving the judiciary, including content that seeks to equate or juxtapose judicial processes or outcomes with references that are calculated to provoke public outrage and diminish institutional respect,” it adds.

Title: Gaurav Bhatia v. Saurav Das & Ors