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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia has filed a defamation suit before the Delhi High Court against the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), its alleged leaders Abhijeet Dipke and Ashutosh Ranka, and journalist Saurav Das over alleged defamatory social media posts.
Bhatia has sought Rs 2 crore as damages and an injunction against the defendants from publishing or circulating the alleged defamatory content concerning him. According to the suit, the dispute arose after an AI-generated graphic allegedly falsely attributed certain remarks concerning Swatantra Bhardwaj to Bhatia. The graphic was circulated on social media platform X. Bhardwaj has been accused in connection with an alleged assault on the father of CJP activist Nishu Azad, according to the material referred to in the suit. The plaint states that Saurav Das shared the disputed graphic on X. Bhatia allegedly denied making the remarks attributed to him and asked Das to remove the post and issue an unconditional apology. According to the suit, Das subsequently deleted the post and clarified on his X account that the graphic was AI-generated. However, Bhatia has alleged that the content continued to be circulated and amplified by others. The suit further alleges that CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka reposted the disputed graphic from Dass account along with a caption allegedly mocking BJP leaders. Bhatia has claimed that the defendants deliberately published and circulated false, fabricated, misleading and defamatory material concerning him through social media. According to the plaint, one of the allegedly defamatory posts was viewed by more than 1.32 lakh users shortly after it was published. The BJP leader has alleged that the circulation of the posts harmed his reputation and professional standing. The suit also refers to certain earlier posts allegedly made by Saurav Das concerning Umar Khalid and the judiciary. One of the posts, according to the plaint, described Khalids continued incarceration as a permanent blot on Indias judiciary and referred to the charges against him as false and frivolous. Bhatia has alleged that such posts went beyond fair criticism of a particular judicial proceeding and amounted to a broader attack on the judiciary. The plaint further alleges that the defendants, acting under the banner of an unregistered association, have been publishing and circulating material against constitutional institutions, including the judiciary. These allegations have been made in the civil suit and are yet to be considered and adjudicated by the Delhi High Court. Through the suit, Bhatia has sought 2 crore in damages and directions restraining the defendants from publishing, reposting, circulating or disseminating the alleged defamatory material. He has also sought removal of the disputed content from social media platforms. (ANI)
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