The court said Ilmi was not justified in using the word “perverse” for the India Today video journalist
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Delhi High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi for wilfully suppressing two posts on social media.
Ilmi had sought a defamation suit against prominent journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and others last August, seeking a permanent injunction against a “defamatory” video posted by Sardesai and seeking damages.
The court said on Friday that a “trial by social media” against Ilmi at the behest of Sardesai and India Today, by using a “video footage of 18 seconds on their social media handle without her consent would be impermissible in law”. It also upheld a previous high court order directing the video to be taken down.
The court ruled Sardesai’s comments in the second part of his post, where he accuses Ilmi of abusing the video journalist, can be retained by him “as the same is protected by defence of truth, being substantially correct”.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed the takedown of the 18-second clip, stating that the video recording, which continued after Ilmi walked out of the show, violated her right to privacy and could not remain online. The court said Sardesai was not justified in claiming that Ilmi had “chucked the mic” and “thrown” the video journalist out of her house. However, it held that the remaining parts of the same tweet, including phrases such as “abuse our journalist” and “no excuse for bad behaviour,” were not liable to be struck down, as they appeared to have some basis. The court further said Ilmi was not justified in using the word “perverse” for the video journalist.
“FINE IMPOSED by the court on a BJP spokesperson!” Rajdeep Sardesai wrote on X, expressing astonishment at the court’s decision. “By the way, I bear no ill will or animus to anyone. A spokesperson can walk out of my show/target me, but I will never accept the ill-treatment of my video journalist. I will say no more since the matter remains sub judice,” he said.
The verdict was pronounced on Ilmi’s application seeking an injunction against posting and circulating a video posted on Sardesai’s X handle on July 27, wherein he had claimed that Ilmi abused an India Today journalist during a TV debate. The video posted by Sardesai showed Ilmi taking off her mic at her home during a debate on “Politics over Kargil Vijay Diwas” on the channel’s primetime show. When the channel’s video journalist turned the camera towards Ilmi again, she aggressively told them, “Get out of my house.” Ilmi became angry after being stopped from interrupting retired Maj Gen Yash Mor, who stated that the armed forces are no longer the “number one choice” of rural youth, who feel “disheartened” by the government’s policies.
Sardesai had asked Ilmi to exercise patience and listen to the “hard facts.” When she replied that the anchor must not “sermonise,” a heated argument ensued, resulting in her walking out of the show. In August 2024, the court directed Sardesai to take down the video he uploaded to his account.
