[Illegal Bar Row] Allegations of Congress leaders against Smriti Irani, daughter are prima facie “slanderous”, appear “bogus” with “malicious intent”: Delhi High Court

In the defamation suit filed by Union Minister Smriti Irani, the Delhi High Court issued summons to the Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, and Netta D’Souza and observed that statements made by them against Irani and her daughter Zoish Irani were prima facie “slanderous” and appeared to be “bogus” with “malicious intent”, only to garner the greatest amount of “viewership”.

The Congress leaders accused Irani's daughter of running a restaurant bar in Goa “illegally”, with the license procured “fraudulently” in the name of a deceased person, and also demanded Irani's resignation.

While considering documents on record, Justice Mini Pushkarna stated that it is clearly seen no license was ever issued in favor of Irani or her daughter, both are not the owners of the restaurant, and the statements by Congress leaders were made to intentionally subject Irani to great public ridicule.

Court placed reliance on the Apex Courts judgment which extrapolates that the Right of Reputation is akin to the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. In light of the same, it held that "thus, there is imperative need to protect the reputation of an individual, least to say, that of Irani who is a respected member of the society and esteemed member of the Union Ministry".

Court also noted that despite service of legal notice by Irani to Congress leaders, neither did they produce documents in support of their allegations against Irani and her daughter, nor did they reply to the notice.

Accordingly, issuing summons, the High Court passed an ad interim injunction directing the congress leaders to delete and remove the allegations from all social media platforms – Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Case Title: Smriti Zubain Irani v. Pawan Khera & Ors.