Delhi High Court Urges CJP Leaders to Remove Posts About Gaurav Bhatia

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday urged leaders of Citizen for Justice and Peace (CJP) to voluntarily remove unverified claims concerning BJP leader and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, advising them to avoid a formal takedown order.

The dispute stems from a defamation suit filed by Bhatia seeking Rs 2 crore against three CJP members. The suit concerns a post on X, formerly Twitter, which Bhatia alleges was an AI-generated tweet falsely attributing remarks to him. Bhatia denies making the alleged statements.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela encouraged the defendants to act independently, suggesting, "Why do you want to spend time in courts?" The judge emphasized that freedom of expression comes with responsibility and proposed that Bhatia could have resolved the matter directly with the defendants.

Bhatia characterized the case as "aggravated defamation" due to the defendants' social media reach. He accused them of operating an "ecosystem" targeting individuals reporting on doctored content and misusing news agency logos to enhance post credibility.

One defendant, Abhijit Dipke, is expected to be removed from the suit as the case did not link him to the specific posts. Counsel for the remaining defendants has been instructed to seek instructions from their clients regarding the voluntary removal of the contested content.