Video of Rajat Sharma abusing Ragini Nayak on live TV not fake or edited: Twitter to Delhi High Court

X Corp (Twitter) has moved the Delhi High Court stating that video posted by Congress leaders alleging that journalist Rajat Sharma used foul language against their spokesperson Ragini Nayak is not fake or edited. .X has filed an application in the High Court for vacation of the Court's ad interim order directing X as well as Congress leaders Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera to take down the video in question. The social media platform has argued that the raw footage of the entire incident is still available on India TV’s YouTube channel (owned by Rajat Sharma) and it shows him using the words which he denied.“Plaintiff’s channel’s own raw footage, which continues to be widely available on India TV’s own YouTube channel, ever since it was live streamed on 04.06.2024, and it shows Plaintiff saying the words “S***** F*****” in Hindi (“b**** c***”). A comparison between the Video and the footage live streamed by India TV (https://www.youtube.com/live/1OEVNHtAN0) reveals that both videos are identical in content. Thus, the Video in the posts is prima facie genuine and matches India TV’s own YouTube channel live stream, which is still available online," the application said. Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao appeared for Twitter before the High Court today and stated that the entire basis of Sharma's suit is that he did not use foul language against Nayak but if the video is heard carefully and with earphones, he could be heard muttering something. Rao contended that the transcript furnished by Sharma states that nothing was said after his exchange with Nayak but the video clearly shows he did say something. “This is a case where the plaintiff says he said nothing. If you hear the content, it show he said something… Ex facie, I am able to show that something was said… On this basis alone, the suit [by Sharma] must go... This order [interim injunction] should go,” Rao said..Senior Advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen appeared for the three Congress leaders today and said that they will also file an application for vacation for the injunction order. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for Sharma and said despite court's order, the Congress leaders did not take down the tweets on their own and they have only been geo-blocked by X. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, therefore, asked the defendants to comply with the court order and take down the tweets. "Having considered the submissions of the Plaintiff and Defendant no. 1, this Court directs that Defendant No. 1 shall unblock the URLs listed below which they claimed to have geo-blocked in pursuance of the order dated 14.06.2024. Such unblocking of the URLs will be done by 5 P.M. on 12.07.2024. The Defendant No. 1 shall immediately inform the Plaintiff and Defendant Nos. 4, 5 and 6 that the tweets have been unblocked. Upon being informed, Defendant Nos. 4 to 6 shall immediately delete the following tweets within 1 hour of such unblocking by Defendant No. 1, latest by 7 PM on 12.07.2024," the Court said. It added that the right of Congress leaders to challenge Sharma's claims will remain unprejudiced by this take down. They added that they will not post videos or tweeting anything regarding the debate in which the incident happened till the court finally decides Sharma's interim relief plea and their challenge to the ad interim order..A single-judge of the High Court had passed an ex parte order on June 14 directing take down of social media posts and videos by Nayak, Ramesh and Khera. They had alleged that Sharma abused and used foul language against Nayak on live television during the discussion on Lok Sabha election results. .Sharma has sued Nayak, Khera and Ramesh for defamation and sought ₹100 crore in damages.Several social media handles had posted a video clip of a discussion on India TV (the news channel owned by Sharma) on the day of the Lok Sabha election results claiming that Sharma used foul language against Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak.On June 10, Nayak posted the video on X and said that in the video, Sharma can be heard using foul language against her. She then filed a police complaint against Sharma as well.Later, on June 11, Sharma said that the Congress party’s media cell ran a false campaign claiming that he used foul language and that this was a conspiracy..X Corp had challenged the order before the Division Bench of the High Court. However, the Bench refused to interfere with the single-judge's order and asked X to make its case before the single-judge. The Division Bench added that single-judge's take down order will be considered as an interim order. .Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi with advocates Sudeep Chatterjee, Rohan Swarup, Sanyam Suri, Partheshwar Singh and Tushar Tanwar of Singh & Singh Law Firm appeared for Rajat Sharma. Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao and advocates Ankit Parmar, Shloka Narayanan and Abhishek Kumar represented X Corp (Twitter). Senior Advocate Prashanto Sen with advocates Omar Hoda, Uday Bhatia, Rashi Goswami, Sumeet Singh, Eesha Bakshi, Arjun Sharma and Prashant Pratap Singh appeared for the Congress leaders. Meta was represented through advocates Tejas Karia, Varun Pathak, Thejesh R and Prasidhi Agrawal. .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.