Delhi HC to Pass Takedown Order on Gaurav Bhatia’s Plea Over Derogatory Posts

The Delhi High Court on Thursday, September 25, said it would pass a takedown order on a plea filed by Senior Advocate and BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia, seeking the removal of allegedly defamatory social media posts that surfaced after a recent television debate featuring him went viral.

Justice Amit Bansal orally remarked to Mr Bhatia, “We will order takedown of the material.”

Appearing in person before the court, Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia drew the court’s attention to a few pictures and urged the court to look at the captions. He submitted that the defendants, who are parties to the suit, continued to post objectionable material despite what the court had said in the previous hearing.

“This is only one example from the last hearing,” Bhatia said. “The same defendants are posting comments like ‘nanga’ after the hearing. This cannot be freedom of speech, humor, or satire when it crosses the line into defamation against a person who has earned a reputation with hard work. Subject to Your Lordship’s order, directions should be passed to restrain them and to take down the defamatory posts.”

Counsel for Google submitted that there were eight URLs involved and argued that initial directions should first be passed against the defendants, and only thereafter against the intermediaries.

The controversy stems from Bhatia’s participation in a News18 debate on September 12, where a camera angle appeared to show him seated in a kurta without visible trousers. The clip was widely circulated online and prompted a series of derogatory remarks.

In the last hearing, Justice Bansal had indicated that defamatory content making crude references to Bhatia’s private parts may be directed to be taken down, whereas satirical or sarcastic commentary not amounting to defamation would not be interfered with.

Appearing for Bhatia, Advocate Raghav Awasthi emphasised the reputational harm, arguing that reputation is earned over decades. He submitted that Bhatia had appeared in proper attire, a kurta and shorts, but that the camera angle created an unfortunate impression.

Awasthi further contended that the incident occurred inside Bhatia’s private residence and that the subsequent circulation of the video amounted to an invasion of privacy. He stressed that Bhatia was particularly aggrieved by references to male private parts, maintaining that such expressions have no place in civil public discourse. The court directed Awasthi to place on record a comprehensive list of the allegedly offending posts and links.

In his defamation suit, Bhatia has sought removal of content shared by the Samajwadi Party media cell, the digital platform Newslaundry, political leaders including AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj and Congress’ Ragini Nayak, as well as journalist Abhisar Sharma.

The court’s order is likely to be uploaded on the site.

Case Title: Gaurav Bhatia v. Samajwadi Party Media Cell & Ors

Bench: Justice Amit Bansal

Hearing Date: 25 September 2025