[Dwarka expressway row] What is the basis of the story against Chief Secretary? Delhi High Court asks The Wire

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday told online news portal The Wire that there should be some basis for its report casting aspersions on Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in relation to the land acquisition by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Dwarka Expressway project..Justice Sachin Datta said that there must be some semblance of truth in the allegations made in the article.“Show me the basis. What is the material on which you made these allegations? Today, I need to see what is the balance of convenience. Show me that there is a semblance of truth in your allegation. As a member of the press, there is no law against sensationalism? You can indulge in exaggeration? There must be some semblance of truth,” the Court remarked..This was after Kumar told the Court that the recent controversy surrounding Dwarka expressway land acquisition was concocted by The Wire with the intent to provoke social media users to tarnish his reputation.The Wire had published a report on November 9, 2023 titled 'Links of son of Delhi Chief Secretary to Beneficiary's Family in Land Over-Valuation Case Raise Questions.'The report said that Naresh Kumar's son Karan Chauhan had links with a family which benefitted from the hiked compensation when a plot of land measuring 19 acre in Delhi's Bamnoli village was acquired by the NHAI for the Dwarka Expressway.Kumar then filed the present defamation suit before the High Court through advocates through Advocates Bani Dikshit, Uddhav Khanna and Krishan Kumar against The Wire and reporter Meetu Jain for defamation.He sought the takedown of the story and tweets related to the story and also prayed for directions to restrain The Wire from publishing any further defamatory allegations and to take down of tweets related to the story.Kumar's counsel asserted that the report by The Wire against Kumar was published to “please someone” since the Delhi Chief Secretary was instrumental in revealing the Delhi excise scam..Senior Advocate Maninder Singh argued for Kumar and said that as soon as the story was published on The Wire, social media got activated and tarnished his image.“You build a connection in your dream and then you concoct everything. The article was published so that social media gets active to target my reputation. I am not a political person… He [Kumar] was instrumental in getting these inquiries in the excise policy done and the Supreme Court has now said that there seems to be at least ₹350 crore bribe which the ED has been able to show in the excise scam. I do not want to say anything but this seems to be one of the foundations for the article,” Singh submitted.He further said that the allegations are ‘palpably false’ and the facts have been twisted.“I was the one who sought investigation in the matter. The award has already been set aside. The concerned District Magistrate (DM) was first transferred to Andaman and then suspended," he argued..Advocate Sarim Naved appeared for The Wire and said that the article raised certain questions and that it is their job to question the government and the bureaucrats.He said that the portal can justify everything that it has published. Naved also said that the Delhi government has prepared a report where these allegations have been made against Kumar. “If such order [injunction order by the Court] is passed, how will I question the civil servants and governments? I am not responsible for retweets on my article. They [Kumar] have not sought any action against them.”.Justice Datta remarked that there has to be some basis for the allegations made in the article..He then proceeded to reserve his verdict on whether any interim relief should be granted to Kumar.