A bench headed by Justice Mini Pushkarna also directed all respondents to delete the defamatory tweets immediately and issued summons to them for August 18. During the hearing, the court directed Khera to immediately remove "defamatory tweets".
During the arguments, Smriti Irani, through her counsel, informed the court that her daughter Zoish has no connection to the alleged bar and statements made by Congress leaders are defamatory and sought damages to the tune of Rs 2 crores.
In its order, Justice Mini Pushkarna said, "The applicant has made out a prima facie case and the balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants. I deem it proper to pass an interim injunction directing defendants 1 to 3 to delete and remove the allegations made during the press conference from all social media platforms Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They are also directed to remove the posts, videos, tweets, retweets, and morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter along with the allegations and stop their recirculation. If defendants 1 to 3 fail to comply with the directions within 24 hours of this order, defendants 4 to 6 [social media platforms] are directed to take down the material.”
The Delhi High Court on Friday issued summons over a defamation suit filed by Union Minister Smriti Irani against Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’Souza, and asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts regarding allegations brought in against Irani’s daughter within 24 hours.
Irani in the suit stated that the Congress leaders have conspired with each other to launch a tirade of false, scathing and belligerent personal attacks against her and her daughter with the common motive to malign, defame and injure her and her daughter’s reputation, moral character and public image.
“Despite being fully aware of the fact that the applicant and her daughter are neither owner(s) of the premises or said restaurant, nor have they applied for any license in relation to the said restaurant, defendants [Congress leaders] deliberately made various defamatory statements imputing the character of the applicant and her daughter going to the extent of maliciously peddling lies by stating that the applicants’s daughter is purportedly indulging in corrupt practices and illegal activities under the patronage and knowledge of the applicant,” the suit read.
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