The Delhi High Court in the case T.V. Today Network Limited v. Sameet Thakkar and Anr observed and has held that X i.e., the formerly Twitter user is guilty of committing contempt of court for making the ‘defamatory tweets’ made against the TV Today Network despite the restraint orders passed against him in the year 2020.
The bench headed by Justice Rekha Palli in the case observed and has directed the Thakkar to pay the fine for an amount of Rs. 1 lakh, while taking into account that the offending tweets were removed by him and that he had tendered an unconditional apology for making the said tweets.
In the present case, the court was dealing with the suit filed in 2020 by TV Today Network Limited, which operates the news channels namely Aaj Tak and India Today.
In the present case, the news company sued Thakkar wherein it is alleged that during the COVID-19 lockdown, he published 35 tweets on his X handle at one go using derogatory and defamatory language made against TV Today, its management, employees and anchors.
Therefore, the court in the case observed that another defendant in the suit is Aadhyaasi Media And Content Services Private Limited, which republished the tweet of Thakkar’s. The court in the case observed and has restrained Thakkar in 2020 for publishing defamatory or derogatory tweets against TV Today or its employees on any social media platform, including X.
Later, the application was moved by the news company wherein it seeks the action against Thakkar for having blatantly disobeyed the directions of court’s.
The counsel, Advocate Raghav Awasthi during the hearing on December 20, 2023 submitted before the court that the social media user was tendering his unconditional apology for having made the defamatory tweets despite the restraint orders.
It has also been informed by the court that the subject tweets were removed and thus, it was also prayed that the application be disposed of by accepting Thakkar’s apology.
The bench of Justice Palli in the case observed that when the party knowingly acts in violation of the judicial directions, it would be against the interest of justice to simply accept Thakkar’s oral apology and that too without any explanation for having made the tweets despite restraint orders.
The court in the case stated that the conduct of defendant no.1 shows that he has been utterly defiant of the orders passed by the said Court and, therefore, should be dealt with a heavy hand.
The court directed that Rs. 1 lakh fine be paid by Thakkar to the Delhi High Court Bar Clerk’s Association, which amount will be used only for the welfare of families of those clerks who lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has further been informed by Awasthi that Thakkar was not willing to amicably resolve the matter and was not agreeable to file any affidavit to undertake that he will not publish any defamatory tweets against TV Today or its management in the future.
The court stated that this being the fit case where costs should be imposed on the defendant no.1 under Chapter XXIII Rule 1 of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules.
On the other hand, the Learned counsel appearing for the defendant no.1 prays for time to obtain instructions and make submissions.
The court observed that Thakkar’s tweets made wild allegations made against TV Today and also used derogatory and defamatory language against the news company, its management and its employees on May 06, 2020.
It has also been stated by the said court that tweets are also very offensive and some contain abusive language. Such a campaign against the Plaintiff, its management and employees can be extremely damaging to their reputation and also cause personal injury to them and their family members. Thus, the tweets are in bad taste and use objectionable language which include abuses.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case directed the Thakkar to take down the tweets from his Twitter account within 48 hours.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on April 01, 2024.