‘Systematic Misinformation Campaign’: Delhi HC Orders Takedown Of Fake Posts On CJI's Alleged London Visit

Justice Tejas Karia held that the impugned material was capable of seriously undermining public confidence in the justice delivery system and appeared to form part of a systematic misinformation campaign aimed at maligning constitutional institutions.

The Court directed the Union Government to issue notifications under the Information Technology Act, 2000 requiring all intermediaries, including social media platforms, search engines, digital publishers, web-hosting services and internet service providers, to remove, disable, block and de-index the identified content and all substantially similar versions within 24 hours.

"Members of the public are further restrained from uploading, publishing, circulating, sharing or otherwise disseminating the Impugned Content on any social media platform, search engine, web-hosting platform, digital media platform or other online media or platform," the Court ordered.

The matter has been listed for compliance on July 17, 2026.

The order came on a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which alleged that several media reports, YouTube videos, social media posts and public statements had falsely portrayed the London championship as involving the participation of the Chief Justice of India, more than 100 sitting judges and Union Ministers.

The misinformation campaign gained traction after viral social media posts claimed that nearly 75 Indian judges, along with Union ministers and the CJI, had travelled to London to play badminton at taxpayers' expense.

The content directed to be removed includes reports published by news platforms such as The Print, National Herald and The Tribune, apart from a social media post by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Senior Advocate Apoorv Kurup, appearing for the BAI, submitted that the championship was a bona fide sporting event organised to promote sportsmanship and camaraderie within the legal fraternity. He contended that fabricated reports and misleading posts scandalised the judiciary by falsely suggesting inappropriate associations between judges and the executive.

The petitioner relied on clarifications issued by the Press Information Bureau's Fact Check Unit and the Ministry of Law and Justice debunking the viral claims.

Appearing for the Union Government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, assisted by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma and Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Ashish Dixit, informed the Court that the photographs circulating online were not from London but from a national-level Bar and Bench badminton tournament held at Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi in November 2025.

The Government further stated that the Chief Justice of India had never participated in any badminton tournament in London and had visited the United Kingdom only on an official engagement. It was also clarified that the Union ministers named in the reports had not travelled to London during the relevant period.

According to the Government, only two judges of the Allahabad High Court had visited London in their personal capacity, rendering the viral narrative entirely false.

After examining the material on record, Justice Karia observed that the publications were founded on demonstrably incorrect factual assertions, including the use of photographs unrelated to the London event and attribution of participation to persons who were not present.

"The Impugned Content does not merely amount to criticism, comment or fair reportage, but appears to be founded on demonstrably incorrect factual assertions," the Court observed.

Holding that the material was "ex facie false, malicious and derogatory to the Judiciary, the Executive and the sport of Badminton", the Court said the publications disclosed a systematic misinformation campaign intended to malign the reputation of the Chief Justice of India and sitting judges.

The Court further directed authorities to preserve and furnish subscriber information, IP logs, bank details and other identifying particulars of those responsible for uploading the content within one week so that appropriate legal action may be initiated in accordance with law.

Observing that false and misleading information directed against constitutional courts has the potential to cause serious and irreversible damage to public faith in the administration of justice, the High Court underscored that such misinformation could not be permitted to continue circulating online.