"False, misleading, and unarguably defamatory:" Delhi High Court directs The Cognate to take down tweets accusing India Today of Islamophobia

The Delhi High Court recently directed digital news platform 'The Cognate' to take down its tweets alluding that reportage by India Today on violations of COVID-19 protocol was Islamophobic in nature [TV Today Network Ltd v. The Cognate & Ors]..The Bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula also ruled that India Today had established a prima facie case for defamation in its favour, and said that no amount of compensation would restore the damage to the plaintiff as long as the objectionable tweet, infographic and related posts are visible to the public. .The order stated,"The accusation of having different approaches i.e., biased reporting is patently a surmise that is unsubstantiated from the material on record. Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 have contended that the comparison is just of the headlines and that most of the Twitterati, would only go by that and not by the actual content of the report. This still does not justify the imputation, which categorizes the Plaintiff to be ‘Islamophobic’...".The order was passed in a defamation suit by the TV Today Network for permanent and mandatory injunctions and damages against the Twitter handle @TheCognate_ for publishing a tweet in the form of an infographic alleging that the network's reportage was Islamophobic..The tweet called into question India Today's differential reporting on gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cognate compared the media house's coverage of the Kumbh Mela with that of the gathering during Ramadan that occurred at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Telangana..Before the High Court, counsel for India Today maintained that The Cognate's post was 'false', 'baseless' and 'defamatory' in nature, as it showed India Today as being biased against the Muslim community..Counsel for The Cognate and its Editor contended that this suit was a frivolous attempt to arm-twist an individual who was brave enough to show India Today's biased attitude. He also maintained that nothing in the said infographic was false or misleading.He further defended the tweet by saying that all the infographic did was put two headlines of India Today's Twitter handle side-by-side to demonstrate its biased approach when it came to reporting events related to Islam.He also put on record a tweet by India Today's anchor Rahul Kanwal that attributed 56% of India's COVID-19 cases to the Tablighi Jamaat, and further contended that The Cognate's assertions were backed by its fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression..The Delhi High Court, however, was of the view that the fundamental right to free speech and expression shall not be upheld at the cost of another man's reputation..It pointed out that India Today had also reported on the violation of COVID-19 norms that took place during the Kumbh Mela."In fact, the report pertaining to ‘Ramadan’ also makes a reference to the earlier report pertaining to the ‘Kumbh Mela’ by stating that the gathering at the ‘Mecca Masjid’ ‘is no different than the Kumbh Mela......Moreover, Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 have also chosen to completely ignore the prior reports, wherein the Plaintiff has continuously reported about violations of COVID-19 protocols at the ‘Kumbh Mela," the order stated..It thus came to the conclusion that The Cognate's tweet and infographic were false, misleading, and unarguably defamatory, and that it had acted in a malafide manner..Before parting with its order, the Court delved into the consequences of alleging bias on the part of a media house."The imputation that the Plaintiff – a news channel, has two different approaches means that the Plaintiff adopts a biased approach while reporting events pertaining to the Hindu community and Muslim community. This can serve as the death knell for a news channel which is expected to be fair, balanced and non-partisan.".In view of the submissions, the Court opined that the balance of convenience was in favour of India Today and that an injunction must be passed immediately in its favour so as to avoid irreparable loss to the media conglomerate. Finally, it directed The Cognate and its editors to block the aforementioned tweet, infographic and related posts from all of its social media handles within one week..The Court also warned that failure to comply with this order during the pendency of the proceedings in a timely manner would lead to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram taking action and blocking the defamatory posts in question..Advocates Hrishikesh Baruah, Shahrukh Ejaz, Namita Jose and Nilotpal Bansal, along with General Counsel MN Nasser Kabir and Legal Counsel Syed Aiman Jalil Hasaney, appeared for the TV Today Network.Advocate Mohammed Tahir appeared for The Cognate and its Editor.Senior Advocate Parag Tripathi and and a team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas lawyers led by Partners Tejas Karia, Ajit Warrier, Pavit Singh Katoch and Gauhar Mirza appeared for Instagram and Facebook..[Read the order]