Delhi High Court orders takedown of tweet against BJP's Gaurav Bhatia

The Delhi High Court today ordered the immediate takedown of a tweet posted by social media influencer Shamita Yadav on finding it to be prima facie defamatory to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia.

Justice Mini Pushkarna passed the interim injunction order on a plea by Bhatia who accused Yadav of repeatedly publishing an allegedly defamatory video, in defiance of earlier court orders restraining the upload of such defamatory content.

"This court is of the considered view that prejudice and injury shall be caused to the plaintiff [Bhatia] if the tweet of this second tweet of December 2025 is allowed to continue any further. Accordingly, it is directed that till the next date of hearing, the December tweet shall be removed by Defendant No 5 [Yadav] forthwith," the Court directed today.

The Court will pass a detailed order later in chamber.

The matter is tied to a controversy that arose after Bhatia had appeared on a news show on News 18 channel in September 2025. During the introduction to the show by journalist Amish Devgan, Bhatia was seen wearing a kurta allegedly without pants/pyjama.

A slew of memes and videos then began circulating on internet and social media about the incident prompting Bhatia to approach the Court seeking the takedown of such defamatory content.

In an earlier hearing, Advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Bhatia and said that he (Bhatia) was wearing shorts, and the cameraman showed the bottom half of his body by mistake. 

Awasthi stated that social media posts related to the incident violated Bhatia's privacy and that objectionable comments must be removed.

Bhatia also appeared before the Court in person and submitted that people on social media cannot be allowed to use derogatory words like 'nanga (nude)' concerning his appearance on TV. 

In his defamation suit, Bhatia sought the take-down of nearly two dozen links or posts from Twitter and YouTube. This included content published by Newslaundry, journalist Abhisar Sharma, as well as politicians Ragini Nayak, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajkumar Bhati, Surendra Rajput and Srinivas BV.

On September 25, 2025, the Court granted interim injunction restraining the publication of certain obscene material against Bhatia.

Today, he sought the takedown of content posted by YouTuber Shamita Yadav, who he accused of wilfully defying the Court's September order.

He had told the Court that Yadav's first post on September 12, 2025 titled “Gaurav Bhatia went from shameless and spineless to pant-less?”, formed part of the subject matter of his defamation suit.

When Shamita Yadav tweeted a video again from her X handle "Ranting Gola" on December 19, Bhatia filed a contempt of court petition against her, which was heard today.

Bhatia stated that Yadav repeatedly used derogatory expressions such as “nanga”, “nanga kacche me”, and “bina pant ke" in her posts.

Advocates Vrinda Grover and Nakul Gandhi, appearing for Shamita Yadav, submitted that her speech is protected. Grover contended that the posts pinpointed by Bhatia were not covered by the Court's earlier injunction order.

"The posts are protected by order of 25th September. Prima facie finding was given by this court, including on my post. None of these (the posts flagged today) were ordered to be deleted. These words[in her post] are considered satirical, humorous, not obscene, not sexually suggestive, not explicit," she said.

Justice Pushkarna, however, expressed reservations. Addressing Grover, the judge said,

"If the genders were swapped, if he were a woman and Yadav were a man, you would be the first person to stand against it...She [Yadav] has not left a good impression on the court. What kind of work are you doing? If you claim yourself to be someone who raises questions of societal important, then such remarks leave a very bad taste."

Bhatia, meanwhile, sought urgent relief and requested orders for the takedown of Yadav's posts.

"The Court is closed for 30-35 days. I just want [injunction] for these 35 days. Would heavens fall? How is she impacted? I am directly impacted. I am asking remove the tweets, let the matter be decided...Calling someone 'dodo bewakoof' on public domain is defamatory, there is no sense of apology or regret. They say nanga and bhajpilla. Obnoxious," he submitted.

After considering the submissions, the Court granted an interim injunction in favour of Bhatia and ordered the takedown of Yadav's tweet.

[Read live coverage]