The Delhi High Court has mandated the removal of a tweet by social media influencer Shamita Yadav, which was deemed prima facie defamatory towards Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia. Justice Mini Pushkarna issued this interim injunction following a plea from Bhatia, who claimed that Yadav persistently shared a defamatory video, in violation of previous court orders prohibiting such content.
“This court believes that harm and prejudice would be inflicted on the plaintiff [Bhatia] if this second tweet from December 2025 is permitted to remain. Therefore, it is ordered that the December tweet be removed by Defendant No. 5 [Yadav] immediately, until the next hearing,” the court ruled.
The controversy stems from an incident where Bhatia appeared on a News 18 channel program in September 2025, where he was seen wearing a kurta without pants or pyjama. This led to numerous memes and videos circulating online, prompting Bhatia to seek legal intervention to remove the defamatory content.
During a previous hearing, Advocate Raghav Awasthi, representing Bhatia, clarified that Bhatia was wearing shorts, and a camera error showed his lower half. Awasthi argued that social media posts related to this incident infringed on Bhatia’s privacy and demanded their removal. Bhatia personally appeared in court, asserting that social media users should not employ derogatory terms like ‘nanga (nude)’ in reference to his television appearance.
Bhatia’s defamation suit seeks the removal of approximately two dozen links or posts from Twitter and YouTube, including content from Newslaundry, journalist Abhisar Sharma, and politicians Ragini Nayak, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajkumar Bhati, Surendra Rajput, and Srinivas BV. On September 25, 2025, the court issued an interim injunction prohibiting the publication of certain obscene material against Bhatia. Today, Bhatia sought the removal of content posted by YouTuber Shamita Yadav, accusing her of willfully defying the court’s September order.
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In his petition, Bhatia highlighted that Yadav’s initial post on September 12, 2025, titled “Gaurav Bhatia went from shameless and spineless to pant-less?”, was part of the subject matter of his defamation suit. Following another tweet from Yadav’s X handle “Ranting Gola” on December 19, Bhatia filed a contempt of court petition against her, which was heard today.
Bhatia claimed that Yadav repeatedly used offensive terms such as “nanga”, “nanga kacche me”, and “bina pant ke” in her posts. Advocates Vrinda Grover and Nakul Gandhi, representing Yadav, argued that her speech was protected. Grover asserted that the posts identified by Bhatia were not covered by the court’s previous injunction order.
“The posts are protected under the September 25 order. The court made a prima facie finding, including on my post. None of these flagged posts were ordered to be deleted. These expressions in her post are considered satirical, humorous, not obscene, not sexually suggestive, or explicit,” Grover argued.
However, Justice Pushkarna expressed reservations. Addressing Grover, the judge remarked, “If the genders were reversed, if he were a woman and Yadav were a man, you would be the first to oppose it… She [Yadav] has not left a positive impression on the court. What kind of work are you doing? If you claim to be someone who raises societal issues, then such remarks leave a very poor impression.”
Bhatia sought immediate relief and requested the removal of Yadav’s posts. “The court is closed for 30-35 days. I just want [injunction] for these 35 days. Would the sky fall? How is she affected? I am directly impacted. I am asking for the tweets to be removed, let the matter be decided… Calling someone ‘dodo bewakoof’ in the public domain is defamatory, there is no apology or regret. They say nanga and bhajpilla. It’s obnoxious,” he submitted.
After considering the arguments, the court granted an interim injunction favoring Bhatia and ordered the removal of Yadav’s tweet.
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The Delhi High Court is addressing the repeated posting of alleged defamatory content by YouTuber Shamita Yadav concerning BJP leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia following his television appearance.
