Delhi High Court Stays Order Directing Hindustan Times, Journalist Neelesh Misra To Jointly Pay ₹40 Lakh For Defaming Businessman

The Delhi High Court recently stayed a trial court order directing Hindustan Times and its former reporter Neelesh Misra to jointly pay ₹40 lakh damages for defaming businessman, Darts IT Network founder— Arun Kumar Gupta.Gupta had alleged that HT Media in a 2007 report titled “Get Smart, Email with Care”, which did not explicitly name him, wrongly suggested that he was “sacked” from his former company for committing financial irregularities.The Saket Court had in June this year held that the media house and the journalist failed to show any document or evidence from where they had received the said information.In their appeal, the media house and the journalist claimed that the report in question was only published to make the public aware about misuse of electronic communications, such as Email and that there was no intention to harm Gupta's reputation.It argued that the Trial Court had itself recognized the aforesaid fact, when in the impugned judgment it said, “defendant no. 1 and 7 have reported the news article that the article was published about the issue of misuse of email and lack of awareness regarding prevalent law. The purpose of the news article has been duly explained by defendant no. 7.”The media house further submitted that despite the fact that the article was cautiously worded using the terms like “alleged” and “purportedly”, ensuring balanced reporting and reflecting the non-conclusive nature of the allegations, the trial court wrongly decreed the defamation suit.The High Court has issued notice to Gupta and granted him four weeks time to file a reply. Justice Mini Pushkarna further ordered,“Considering the submissions made before this Court, it is directed that the operation of the judgment and decree dated 06th June, 2025, passed by the District Judge, South East District, Saket Courts, Delhi in C.S. DJ No. 6574/2016, shall remain stayed, till the next date of hearing,” that is 19th December.Appearance: Ms. Vanita Bhargava, Mr. Ajay Bhargava, Mr. Madhur Dhingra, Ms. Dhalguni Nigam and Mr. Aman Khemka, Advs. for AppellantCase title: HT Media Ltd & Anr. v. Arun Kumar GuptaCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 982Case no.: RFA 724/2025Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Stays Order Directing Hindustan Times, Journalist Neelesh Misra To Jointly Pay ₹40 Lakh For Defaming Businessman

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