Delhi High Court Dismisses Appeal Against Minister's Daughter's Defamation Case

Court Ruling on Social Media Content

New Delhi, Apr 6: The Delhi High Court has turned down an activist's request to overturn an order mandating the removal of social media posts that connected Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's daughter with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A panel of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Renu Bhatnagar instructed the single judge to promptly resolve whether to maintain or lift the interim order.

The court allowed the appellant, Kunal Shukla, one week to respond to Himayani Puri's request for an injunction before the single judge.

"The matter should be presented to the single judge by April 23. The judge will make a decision on the injunction or stay application after hearing both sides, without being influenced by any prior comments," the court stated.

Shukla contended in his appeal that the single judge had issued a broad gag order on March 17, preventing him from sharing the contested content on social media without prior notice or an opportunity to respond.

The appeal argued that Shukla's posts were based on publicly accessible documents, including international reports and official releases, raising significant public interest questions.

During the hearing, senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Shukla, questioned the urgency of the order, noting that he was not given two days to respond to content published in February.

Singh claimed that the single judge accepted every statement from Puri as absolute truth and postponed the next hearing to August.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Puri, opposed the appeal. The court indicated it would expedite the hearing date and allow the appellant time to submit his response, which Shukla accepted.

Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, also representing Shukla, urged the court to hasten the trial process. However, the court declined, stating, "We will refrain from making any observations regarding this matter. You should contest everything there," the bench remarked.

Puri's lawsuit seeks ₹10 crore in damages and an order to prevent various entities from spreading defamatory information. She alleges a coordinated online campaign aimed at linking her to Epstein and his offenses.

Additionally, she requested an unconditional apology and retraction from the defendants. Her lawsuit claims that the defendants spread "groundless accusations" suggesting that Puri had direct or indirect connections with Epstein, which she asserts are entirely false and malicious.

The Epstein files consist of extensive documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking involving Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, recordings, and emails, which have been widely discussed since Epstein's death in custody in 2019.