'Vicious Character Attacks Not Journalistic Freedom' : Delhi High Court Directs Mint To Take Down Article Against Gaurav Taneja

Granting ad-interim relief to Youtuber Gaurav Taneja, popularly known as 'Flying Beast', the Delhi High Court has directed Mint Newspaper to take down an article published by it on May 8, 2022, which had alleged defamatory statements against him.The article in question titled "Shouldn't brands stop supporting sordid influencers?" was published after Taneja had posted a picture on Twitter wherein he was seen performing havan as per the Hindu rites. "Hinduism is a science based way of life. On 3 dec 1984, two families remained unaffected from Bhopal gas leak. They performed regular (हवन ), which is a natural antidote to pollution", Taneja had tweeted.The tweet led to polarised debates in social media. A columnist named Abhishek Baxi quote tweeted Taneja's tweet by tagging certain brands asking them why were they associating with him. Later, the article in Mint written by columnist Shephali Bhatt was published, which raised allegations of misogyny, child abuse etc., against Taneja after referring to certain videos posted by him, one of which showed him piercing the ears of his daughter.Perusing the videos posted by Taneja, the links of which were given in the article, Justice Amit Bansal observed thus:"Piercing the ears of a girl child cannot be termed as child abuse. Allegations of child abuse are serious allegations and cannot be made without due care and verification. It cannot be based on the opinions of the author.""Undoubtedly, a person has a right to criticize the views expressed by an individual and such criticism would be covered under right to free speech. However, vicious attacks cannot be made on the character of a person under the guise of journalistic freedom and free speech. In my prima facie view, there is nothing in the aforesaid videos to substantiate allegations of child abuse."Taneja's plea for injunction was rejected by a Delhi Court in June after which he had approached the High Court, claiming that the article had caused immense damage to his reputation with the sponsors. He had submitted that defamatory material was causing professional loss to him.The Court thus found that Taneja had made out a prima facie case and that irreparable harm and injury would continue to be caused to him if ad interim injunction is not granted. "So long as the impugned articles and the impugned tweets continue to be in circulation and visible on social media, they are likely to cause damage to the reputation and career of the plaintiffs. Balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiffs," the Court said. Accordingly, the Court directed Mint to take down the article and restrained the author Shephali Bhatt and editor-chief Shruthijith KK from posting circulating or publishing the article. The Court also directed Abhishek Baxi to take down the tweet against Taneja, taking exception to words like "bewakoof" and "idiocy" used by him.- The defendants no.1, 2 and 6 are directed to take down the article dated 8th May, 2022 (pg. 25-29 of the plaintiff's documents) from its online platform within one week of receipt of this order. The defendants no.1, 2 and 6 are further restrained from posting, circulating or publishing the aforesaid article or any other defamatory material in respect of the plaintiffs on any online or offline platforms.- The Defendant no.3 is directed to take down the tweet dated 1st May, 2022 (pg. 21-24 of the plaintiff's documents) within one week of receipt of this order and is further directed to not post, circulate or publish any similar defamatory content against the plaintiffs on any social media or other online/offline platforms.The matter will now be heard on November 3. Title: KAIRAVIVIEW (OPC) PVT. LTD. & ORS. v. HINDUSTAN TIMES/ MINT & ORS.Click Here To Read Order

'Vicious Character Attacks Not Journalistic Freedom' : Delhi High Court Directs Mint To Take Down Article Against Gaurav Taneja

Nupur Thapliyal

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