The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed take down of certain “defamatory” content posted against BJP MP Raghav Chadha on social media, while clarifying that there was no element of personality rights involved in his suit.

For context, Chadha had sought take down of “defamatory” content allegedly showing that he “sold himself for money.”

“There is no personality right involved. However, I have ordered take down of only 5 documents. Rest is not defamatory prima facie,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said while pronouncing the order on his interim plea.

Chadha's suit seeks a john doe relief against unknown entities, as well as various other known defendants. He had sought to restrain the defendants from exploiting his personal traits, including his photos, without his consent.

While reserving verdict in the interim application, Justice Prasad had said that prima facie, the impugned posts were criticism of Chadha's political decision to shift to BJP and that the line between defamation and criticism is quite thin.

The Court had orally told Chadha's counsel, Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar that prima facie, there is no personality right involved in the case.

Chadha's suit is filed through Advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe.

It may be noted that the Court has been protecting the personality rights of political figures like Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Pawan Kalyan.

It has also protected rights of entrepreneur Aman Gupta, Telugu actor Allu Arjun, Malayalam actor Mohanlal, spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya, singer Jubin Nautiyal, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, and actors Kajol Devgan, R Madhavan and NTR Junior. Similar suit has been filed by actor Salman Khan.

The coordinate benches have also passed orders protecting the personality rights of “The Art of Living” foundation founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and film producer Karan Johar.

Notably, the Court also protected the personality rights of journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, who had sought relief regarding the circulation of allegedly misleading and AI-generated videos against him on social media.

The Court also passed a john doe order protecting the personality rights of podcaster Raj Shamani, observing that he is a known face in India, especially in the field of content creation.

Title: RAGHAV CHADHA v. ASHOK KUMAR JOHN DOE AND ORS