Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sanju Verma and former IPS officer Yashovardhan Jha Azad told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that they will hide (archive) their social media posts targeting each other [Yashovardhan Azad v. Sanju Verma]. .Justice Mini Pushkarna also recorded Azad's statement that if Verma does not make any posts against him in future, he too, will refrain from doing so. "Plaintiff [Azad] submits that if no tweet is made by the defendant [Verma], the plaintiff will not make any tweet on the social media platform against her," the Court noted in its order. It added that both parties shall be bound by the undertaking given to the Court..The statements were made by the parties during the hearing of the defamation case filed by Azad against Verma.Azad is a retired IPS officer, former Special Director in India’s Intelligence Bureau and ex-Central Information Commissioner. The dispute between him and Verma goes back to June and July 2025, when the latter took part in a news debate on India Today on the Kolkata rape case. During the debate, she said that Azad had failed to name West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in his comments on the rape and alluded that it was because he is the brother of Kirti Azad, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC). She later posted the debate video on Twitter (X). A back-and-forth followed between the two on Twitter, and while replying to one of the comments, Verma said, "Absolutely...what a blot this man must have been on the uniform.".During the last hearing of the case on December 17, 2025, the High Court had objected to Verma's post and urged her to withdraw the remark. .Today, advocate Rishav Ranjan appeared for Azad and referred to the comments made by Verma following the last hearing. He added that he is seeking a direction from the Court to Verma to arhive her post and refrain from making the posts in future. Meanwhile, advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Verma and stated that he has filed an application seeking rejection of the defamation suit. .After hearing the case for some time, both parties agreed to archive their posts. "After some hearing, without going into the merits with respect to the defamatory nature of the tweets, both parties are ad idem that they will archive the tweets referring to each other. Let the needful be done in a week from today," the Court noted in its order. Justice Pushkarna also issued notice to Azad on Verma's application seeking rejection of the suit. The case will be heard next on May 7. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
