Delhi HC Pulls Up CJP Leaders Over Unverified AI Generated Post Targeting Gaurav Bhatia

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has recorded undertakings from Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to delete social media posts targeting Senior Advocate and BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia within 24 hours. 

Hearing a ₹2-crore defamation suit filed by Bhatia, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that making allegations and launching attacks on social media platforms without proper verification is not correct. The court suggested that the leaders voluntarily remove the objectionable content on their own rather than forcing the bench to issue a formal judicial takedown order.

The legal proceedings stem from a social media post published on platform X on September 5 following the arrest of Swatantra Bhardwaj. According to Bhatia's suit, the post featured an artificial intelligence (AI) generated graphic that falsely attributed statements to him describing Bhardwaj as a "dimagi naxali" and "jaatiwaadi" alongside his photograph. Bhatia submitted before the court that the graphic incorporated a news agency logo to falsely bolster its credibility, resulting in aggravated defamation given the defendants' substantial online following.

During the hearing, Justice Gedela noted that while youth have the constitutional right to express themselves and protest, expressions ought to be articulated in a measured manner and verified prior to publication. The court encouraged the parties toward a peaceful resolution, noting that public figures routinely face criticism and lampooning in digital spaces. Counsel appearing for Das and Ranka assured the court that the tweets in question would be removed promptly within the stipulated period.

The High Court issued formal summons to CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and party founder Abhijit Dipke, directing them to submit their written responses to the defamation suit. Regarding Dipke's involvement, advocate Nakul Gandhi submitted that Dipke had not published any tweet against Bhatia, prompting the court to observe that no specific defamatory material was alleged against Dipke at this stage. Furthermore, the court directed X Corp to file the basic subscriber information relating to the relevant user accounts within three weeks.

Although Bhatia pressed for an interim dynamic injunction to restrain future defamatory posts, the High Court declined to grant such relief without hearing the defendants. Nevertheless, the court granted Bhatia liberty to approach social media intermediaries Meta Platforms and X Corp directly if identical or similar posts are circulated in the future. 

The social media platforms were instructed to examine any such grievances and take appropriate action in accordance with applicable legal guidelines.

Case title: Gaurav Bhatia v. Saurav Das and Others