Journalist Moves High Court Against AAP's Copyright Strikes On His Facebook Page For Using Punjab CM's Photos; Notice Issued

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday (April 2) issued notice on a journalist's plea challenging actions taken against his Facebook pages and copyright strike imposed on his account for allegedly using photographs of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann or news regarding same.

In doing so the court also said that the petitioner Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal has the liberty to the approach the intermediary's grievance cell as well as the Appellate Authority.

Issuing notice on the petition, Justice Jagmohan Bansal in his order said:

"Notice of motion returnable for 27.07.2026. Ms. Amrita Singh, Advocate accepts notice on behalf of the respondent-UOI and Mr. Ferry Sofat, Addl. A.G. Punjab, who on advance notice is present in Court, accepts notice on behalf of the respondent-State. They seek time to file their respective replies and address arguments. In the meantime, the petitioner is at liberty to approach Grievance Officer as well as Appellate Authority. The Appellate Authority may adjudicate his appeal in accordance with law".

The petitioner has sought setting aside of punitive actions taken against his Facebook pages titled “Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal” and “talk with rattan”. He is further seeking setting aside of Intellectual Property Rights (for short 'IPR') claims imposed on his accounts pursuant to complaints. He is also seeking restoration of his pages along with contents therein.

The petitioner, an independent social media journalist, stated that he predominantly reports matters of public interest. It was submitted that on 09.10.2025 while conducting on-ground reporting at village Kaljharani, Tehsil Sangat, District Bhatinda he unearthed alleged irregularities/misuse of public funds. It was submitted that he was publicly criticized by the State Government.

It was submitted that on 16.01.2026 the petitioner interviewed an RTI activist regarding Rs.785 crore spent on advertisement. In February 2026, multiple IPR claims were initiated against his contents. Further, his Facebook page was removed on 27.02.2026. Thereafter the petitioner received official communication on 10.03.2026 regarding disabling of his account. It was submitted that IPR claims and punitive actions against petitioner's Facebook page are result of disclosure made by him regarding alleged internal irregularities.

The plea submits that petitioner is the host of the podcast and digital platform titled as 'Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal' on Facebook which has 3,24,000 followers followers and 'Talk with Rattan' which also has 1,94,000 followers and regularly publishes long forminterviews and field reports on YouTube and Facebook.

The plea states that on 12.10.2025 during a public political address, the Chief Minister of Punjab made statements on a public stage referring to the Petitioner by name.

"That it is pertinent to mention here that report dated 25.02.2026 relating to a news item published on 13.02.2026, which merely reported that "Chief Minister Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann's appearance at the Secretariat Sri Akal Takht Sahib" was False Intellectual Property Rights Claims strike in the name of "Aam Aadmi Party'...It is wholly unreasonable and constitutionally alarming that a routine journalistic reference to a sitting Chief Minister, including use of his publicly available image is treated as proprietary intellectual property. A Chief Minister's public image cannot be converted into private intellectual property to silence reporting," the plea states.

The plea further states that the petitioner's Facebook Page titled 'Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal' having approximately 3,24,000 followers and over 3,200 posts was attacked by repeated False Intellectual Property Rights Claims take downs and was ultimately removed by Meta platforms. It states that the platform cited multiple False Intellectual Property Rights Claims reports and the complaints were shown as originating from Respondent no. 4– Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab through 13 different email IDs and report numbers on various dates.

Further, the petitioner has stated that he, approached the internal appellate mechanisms of Meta Platforms and filed multiple appeals, however the platform failed to issue proper reasoned replies and continued to impose restrictive actions including further strikes and content suppression.

"That it is indeed strange, disturbing and constitutionally absurd that every possible False Intellectual Property Rights Claims strike against the Petitioner is premised solely on the use of photographs of the sitting Chief Minister of Punjab or news regarding same in routine news reporting. A Chief Minister performing public functions cannot by any stretch of law be transformed into private intellectual or personal property. The very notion that reference to or depiction of an elected constitutional functionary invite False Intellectual Property Rights Claims punishment is not merely erroneous but strikes at the root of press freedom, rendering journalism hostage to political sensitivity rather than governed by law," the plea adds.

The plea seeks a direction for setting aside all punitive action against the petitioner's Facebook pages which resulted in removal of published material, to due to "coordinated complaints filed by respondent party members and hired professionals".

The plea seeks a direction to Meta Platforms to immediately restore and republish the petitioner's Facebook pages, posts, videos and all associated content along with restoration of follower base, reach and all platform functionalities.

It further seeks a direction to Meta Platforms to adjudicate and dispose of all pending appeals filed by the petitioner, by passing reasoned and speaking orders. It also seeks a direction to Aam Aadmi Party-Punjab, its office bearers, agents or any person acting on its behalf from "asserting or initiating false, mala fide or unauthorised intellectual property rights claims in respect of Government work, public domain material or journalistic content" published by the petitioner.

Case title: RATTANDEEP SINGH DHALIWAL v/s UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

CWP-9854-2026

Counsel for petitioner: Senior Advocate R.S. Bains, advocates Loveneet Thakur, Sarabjot Singh Cheema, Khusdeep Singh and Vivek Vikas Singh

Counsel for UOI: Senior advocate Dheeraj Jain, advocate Amrita Singh

Counsel for State: Additional AG Punjab, Ferry Sofat

Click Here To Read/Download Order