Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav of Delhi High Court on Wednesday recused himself from hearing Senior Advocate and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Nalin Kohli's defamation suit against DB Corp Limited, which publishes the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar [Mr Nalin Satyakam Kohli vs D B Corp Limited & Ors.]

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ordered listing of the matter before some other bench.

"Mr. Kohli in person is the plaintiff? It has to go to some other bench. Mr [Aman] Lekhi, Mr Kohli's matter ... how can I hear it," the judge remarked.

The matter was directed to be listed on Thursday.

Senior Advocate Aman Lekhi appeared on behalf of Kohli.

In his defamation suit, Kohli has alleged that Dainik Bhaskar in a sting-operation video and a related report wrongly linked him to creation and distribution of fake news targeting political figures. Besides seeking injunction and damages, Kohli has prayed for takedown of the alleged defamatory content.

The undercover journalists associated with the news organization had reportedly contacted companies involved in creating and disseminating fake news against political leaders.

The reporters then carried out a sting operation where the representatives of these companies can be seen acknowledging their paid service of spreading fake news and political propaganda.

On receiving information of Dainik Bhaskar’s report, Kohli on April 11 had denied the allegations and announced that he would take legal action against the news organization.