Gaurav Bhatia tells Delhi High Court YouTube channels are mocking him over Noida Court assault

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by Senior Advocate and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gaurav Bhatia seeking directions for take down of the online videos which alleged that he was 'beaten up' by lawyers at a Noida Court. .Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said that the order will be pronounced on April 10. .Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi and advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Bhatia. Bhatia also made submissions before the Court in-person. He said that there is an ulterior motive behind these videos and every moment that the videos/posts are online, it is damaging his reputation.Bhatia pointed out that in one of the YouTube videos, the anchors are laughing. They are mocking someone who has attained his place by hard work and sincerity, he said. "I am losing my reputation every second these videos remain online. Media has a much higher responsibility to verify and then report... In one of these videos, the anchors are laughing, they are making a mockery of someone who has attained his place by hard work and sincerity," Bhatia said. He added that the videos are making reference to the political party he belongs to (BJP), even though his political affiliations had nothing to do with the incident..Meanwhile, the counsel appearing for the YouTube channels and journalists argued that they have only exercised their right to freedom of speech and the right cannot be curtailed if there is nothing wrong with the journalistic work.After hearing all parties, the Court reserved the verdict. .The High Court had on April 5 issued notice to YouTube channels Article 19 India (run by journalist Naveen Kumar), The News Launcher, BBI News as well as comedian Rajeev Nigam.X (twitter) handles Sandeep Singh, Vijay Yadav, NETAFLIX, Sunita Jadhav, parody account of actor Pankaj Tripathi, Dawood Nadaf, Drkhatra and Virus Baba INDIA Wala were also issued notice..In his defamation suit, Bhatia stated that an unfortunate incident happened on March 20, 2024 in the court of District Judge of Gautam Budh Nagar in Noida where his lawyer's band was snatched by an advocate in presence of the judge.That very same day, YouTube channel Article 19 uploaded a video titled “Police vakeelo se chhudati, Gaurav Bhatia ki Dhulai ho chuki thi (Before police could rescue Gaurav Bhatia from lawyers, he was beaten up)".YouTube channel News Launcher uploaded a video titled “BJP Pravakta Gaurav Bhatia ko vakeelo ne koot diya, Godi Media Muh Chhupati Fir Rahi (BJP Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia beaten up by lawyers, Godi Media is hiding its face).”The video by BBI News was titled “Gaurav Bhatiya ke sath vakeelo ki nok jhok, Gaurav Bhatiya funny memes viral video.”Details of videos and social media posts made by other channels were added in the suit..The suit argued that the videos had garnered hundreds of thousands of views and was defamatory in nature.“It [the video] accuses him of indecent behaviour, physical assault, and dishonourable conduct, employing derogatory language to paint him as a thug and a disgrace. The portrayal of Plaintiff as a helpless victim of physical violence and humiliation within a courtroom setting is not only damaging but also seeks to undermine his credibility and standing as a Senior Advocate and a spokesperson for a political party,” Bhatia argued in his suit.