Delhi High Court orders Newslaundry to take down content disparaging TV Today, Aaj Tak, India Today

The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered digital news and media critique platform Newslaundry to take down certain content that disparage TV Today and its channels Aaj Tak and India Today. .The material ordered to be taken down includes those in which Newslaundry referred to certain TV Today content as "shit".A Division Bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla passed the interim ruling on two connected cross appeals filed by Newslaundry and TV Today. The Court held that some of the statements made by Newslaundry were ex facie disparaging and that their continued availability online would damage TV Today's reputation..“We are in agreement with the learned single judge’s finding that a prima facie case of commercial disparagement has been made out. The statements identified in the impugned order [of the single judge] are clearly without any independent standard and are biased and therefore constituted disparagement under the applicable legal principles,” the Court ruled. It added that it was evident that if the statements were not removed and continued to remain accessible, they would cause serious and irreparable harm and prejudice to TV Today. “Such harm cannot be compensated by monetary relief or any other relief. Therefore, interim protection is warranted… Any refusal of interim protection at this stage will cause great prejudice to the plaintiff [TV Today],” the Court. Therefore, the Bench said that it is allowing TV Today's appeal in part and ordering Newslaundry to remove the remarks or statements, "shit", "shit show", "high on weed or opium" and "your punctuation is as bad as your journalism" from social media platforms and its website..The appeals before the Division Bench had challenged an order of a single-judge Bench in a case filed by TV Today alleging copyright infringement, defamation and disparagement by Newslaundry. In October 2021, TV Today filed the suit alleging that Newslaundry published videos and articles that tarnished its reputation and made “false, malicious and derogatory” statements about its channels, anchors and management. However, Newslaundry argued that its material was criticism and satire protected as free speech. In an order passed on July 29, 2022, a single-judgeof the High Court denied interim relief to TV Today. Both Newslaundry and TV Today filed appeals against the order. While TV Today challenged the denial of interim relief, Newslaundry argued that the Court's finding that a prima facie case was made out, may harm them..Notably, while hearing the arguments in the case in January 2025, the Division Bench had taken strong exception to Newslaundry's Manisha Pande using the word "shit" in one of the videos about TV Today. The Court warned that it may make observations and pass an order that could damage Pande’s career. However, the next day, the Bench clarified that it had no intention to act against Pande. "She may be a good journalist. This may be an aberration also. At that point, that was our gut reaction...You can tell the journalist concerned that she need not be worried about this," the Court had said at the time..Advocates Hrishikesh Baruah, Kumar Kshitij, Utkarsh Dwivedi, Pragya Agarwal, Yashaswy Ghosh and Nishtha Sachan appeared for TV Today. Newslaundry was represented by Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao as well as advocates Bani Dikshit and Uddhav Khanna.