HC directs Cong, AAP to remove posts linking Dushyant Kumar Gautam to Ankita Bhandari case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party to remove within 24 hours social media posts linking BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case.
In an interim order passed on a defamation lawsuit by Gautam, Justice Mini Pushkarna also restrained the two political parties from posting any content targeting the BJP national secretary as the alleged "VIP" in the murder case.
The judge said if the content was not taken down within 24 hours, the social media platforms would remove the same as per the rules.
The court also passed the directions against other persons and entities, including actor Urmila Sanawar and Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee.
"Till the next date of hearing, the following directions are passed: Defendants 1 to 9 (Congress, AAP and others)... are restrained from hosting, uploading, publishing, circulating .. any content which names, targets, or imputes that the plaintiff is the alleged VIP in the Ankita Bhandari matter. Defendants 1 to 9 are directed to remove the various posts and videos uploaded on social media platforms, namely, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X," the court ordered.
"In the event the defendants 1 to 9 fail to comply with the directions within 24 hours of pronouncement of this order, defendants 10 to 12 (X, Meta Platforms Inc and Google LLC) are directed to take down the aforesaid posts as per the rules," it further said.
Justice Pushkarna said Gautam had made out a prima facie case in his favour and if the interim order to restrain the hosting of the "defamatory" content was not passed, irreparable injury would be caused to him.
The court asked the social media platforms to also take down any "identical" content once it was flagged by the BJP leader.
In 2022, 19-year-old Bhandari, a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Pauri district, was murdered. The resort owner, Pulkit Arya, and two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta were subsequently arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court for the crime.
An audio clip recently released by Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former MLA Suresh Rathore, allegedly mentioned a 'VIP' allegedly linked to the case.
In his lawsuit, Bhandari has sought Rs 2 crore as damages from the Congress and AAP as well as Sanawar, Rathore, Uttarakhand Predesh Congress Committee and its President Ganesh Godiyal and Congress' national media panellist Alok Sharma.
Relief is also sought against X users Mohit Chauhan and '@PMNehru'.
On Wednesday, the senior counsel appearing for Gautam argued that his "impeccable reputation" of five decades was being tarnished by the Congress, AAP and others by linking him to a murder case in which conviction had already happened after a trial.
Calling it "outright defamation", he emphasised that Gautam's name never came up in the investigation and the defendants' social media posts were damaging his reputation "without an iota of evidence".
The senior counsel further claimed that Sanawar was a "habitual offender" who has many criminal cases against her, and the Congress and AAP propagated her false narrative.
"It is a matter of grave concern that political parties are carrying out press conferences and circulating video clips and defamatory posts without verifying facts and making further malicious allegations in complete absence of any substantial material," the lawsuit said.
The matter would be heard next on May 4.
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Child rape-murder: Hundreds protest on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune; traffic hit
Pune (PTI): Hundreds of people blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune to protest the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, leading to traffic disruption on the busy route for about four hours.
The girl's family members and other demonstrators placed the body on the road in the Navale Bridge area on Saturday evening and demanded stringent punishment for the 65-year-old man arrested in the case.
Several videos surfaced showing a huge traffic jam on the highway.
Later, the victim's last rites were performed at the Vaikunt crematorium here shortly after midnight amid tight police security.
The accused man, who works as a labourer and has a criminal record, allegedly lured the girl with the promise of food on Friday in the Bhor tehsil of Pune district. He then took her to a cattle enclosure where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and later killed her by hitting her with a stone, according to the police.
He was arrested based on CCTV footage from a private residence, which captured him with the child.
A case was registered against him under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and he has been remanded in police custody till May 7.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Saturday met the family of the victim, assuring them of strict action against the accused and a fast-track trial.
Describing the incident as "shocking" and a "blot on humanity", Pawar said the government stands firmly with the victim's family and will ensure justice.
She also spoke to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and sought a fast-track court trial so that the accused receives the harshest punishment.
Deputy CM Eknath Shinde directed Pune rural police to gather concrete evidence to build a watertight case and conduct the trial in a fast-track court.
Efforts should be made to ensure the accused gets the death penalty, a statement quoted Shinde as saying.
