A Delhi court has provided interim relief to BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj in a defamation case against AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj and others. The court has restrained them from sharing or publishing allegedly defamatory content related to a viral video showing Swaraj’s detention during a political protest.
The court, led by Principal District and Sessions Judge Gurvinder Pal Singh, ordered the defendants, including Ankush Narang and the Aam Aadmi Party, to refrain from circulating the contentious video from April 19 and associated press conference content from April 21 on social media platforms. The judge noted that the plaintiff had established a prima facie case and could face “irreparable harm” without the injunction.
Emphasizing the importance of balancing the right to reputation with freedom of speech, the court highlighted that allowing the defamatory content to persist in the public domain could cause significant harm to Swaraj. The lawsuit stemmed from a video shared by Bharadwaj on April 19, which allegedly misrepresented Swaraj’s actions during a BJP protest march the day before.
The court directed the defendants to promptly remove the content from all social media platforms and refrain from further dissemination until the next hearing. Failure to comply within 48 hours would empower the plaintiff to seek assistance from social media platforms for content removal. The case is scheduled for further proceedings on May 13.
