Delhi High Court awards ₹5 lakh compensation to TV Today over defamatory tweets targeting Rajdeep Sardesai

The Delhi High Court has awarded ₹5 lakh as compensation to be paid to TV Today for defamatory tweets against the channel and journalist Rajdeep Saredesai after an interview featuring actress Rhea Chakraborty was aired on the channel [TV Today Network v. Anurag Srivastava and anr]..Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the tweets were highly defamatory and that ₹5 lakh has to be awarded as compensation to TV Today to address the reputational harm caused by such tweets. "The Court finds that the objectionable tweets were highly defamatory and remain unsubstantiated by the defendant, despite having been afforded sufficient opportunity to do so Such an irresponsible act of the defendant has to be deprecated ... Having considered the overall circumstances, this Court deems it just and proper to award ₹5,00,000 as general compensatory damages to the plaintiff, to redress the reputational harm, emotional hardship, and loss of professional credibility caused by the conduct of the defendant," the September 3 order said. .The order was passed on a defamation case filed by TV Today in 2020, after a Twitter (now X) account holder named Anurag Srivastava, who operated the handles ‘@theanuragkts’ and ‘@theanuragoffice’, posted certain tweets in 2020 targeting TV Today and its news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai.The tweets were posted shortly after TV Today aired an interview conducted by Sardesai with Rhea Chakraborty in 2020. TV Today flagged tweets where Srivastava referred to Sardesai as a "dalla" (a derogatory Hindi colloquial term implying ‘pimp’) and accused him of spreading false news. Another tweet by Srivastava compared Saresai to terror-accused Zakir Naik and was accompanied by the hastag #ShameOnAajTak.Srivastava also alleged that Rhea Chakraborty bribed Sardesai and India Today for her interview, in a tweet that was accompanied by the comment, "RIP 4th Pillar of Democracy.”TV Today claimed that these tweets affected its reputation as well as its income, and presented records to show that the channel's total income declined from ₹899.57 crores in 2019-20 to ₹819.92 crores in 2020-21.TV Today argued that the tweets were part of a premeditated, preplanned, and systematic attack on Sardesai, intended to lower the reputation of TV Today in the eyes of the public.Srivasatava eventually deleted his tweets, and assured the Court that he would not re-post them. The Court restrained him from uploading such content as well, by interim orders passed in 2020. The Court has now ordered that ₹5 lakh damages also be paid to compensate TV Today for such derogatory tweets. .Advocates Hrishikesh Baruah, Utkarsh Dwivedi, Kumar Kishitij and Anurag Mishra appeared for TV Today. .[Read Order]