The Delhi High Court has issued an ad-interim injunction order mandating the removal of “defamatory tweets” posted by Sanjay Sharma, Editor-In-Chief of Lucknow’s 4 PM Evening Newspaper, and two others against The New Indian’s Editor-In-Chief, Rohan Dua, LiveLaw reported. The tweets relate to Dua’s interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2024 general elections.

Justice Vikas Mahajan ordered that if Sharma, along with Sultan Siddiquey and Chandra Kumar, fails to remove the posts on X within two weeks, the platform must take them down within 36 hours of Dua’s request. The court also barred the three from posting any defamatory content about Dua and The New Indian, or anything that could damage their reputation, on any social media platform.

On July 3, Dua posted on X about exposing the country’s “biggest scandal” involving YouTube and 24 employees allegedly manipulating algorithms. Although Dua’s post did not mention 4 PM Evening Newspaper or Sharma, Sharma still attacked him on X.

Dua and The New Indian’s parent company then filed a defamation suit alleging that the tweets tarnished Dua’s long-standing journalistic reputation.

Dua argued that Sharma’s tweet defamed both him and The New Indian by implying they were “beholden to the ruling establishment.” The other two individuals tweeted that Dua does “bhakti of Modi and BJP day and night”.

Justice Mahajan noted that the tweets suggested Dua was biased towards the ruling government, which could undermine his credibility as a journalist.

“It cannot be disputed that when it is alleged on a social media platform like ‘X’ that a journalist favours one party over others, especially when that journalist is followed by thousands of people, such statements/allegations surely compromise his integrity as a professional journalist,” the court said.

The court said that journalists must remain unbiased to uphold professional ethics and public trust. It pointed out that the posts, prima facie, cast doubt on Dua’s integrity as a journalist without any substantial evidence.

In the absence of any justification for the allegations made in the tweets, the court found a prima facie case for granting an interim injunction in favour of Dua and The New Indian. The matter is scheduled for next hearing on October 29.