In a significant development, leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, have consented to remove AI-generated posts targeting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia. The decision follows a directive from the Delhi High Court, presided over by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, who recorded the undertaking from Das and Ranka to delete the contentious posts.
The court order specified that Das and Ranka agreed to remove their posts on the social media platform X, responding to the grievances raised by Bhatia. “Counsel for D1 (Saurav Das) says the impugned tweets will be taken down today. Counsel for D2 (Ranka) states that his tweet will also be taken down today itself,” noted the court order.
The court further advised Bhatia to approach Meta and X if similar posts emerge in the future. It instructed these platforms to consider such requests and take appropriate action. If any hurdles arise in removing the posts, the platforms are required to inform Bhatia, who may then seek further judicial intervention.
Summons have been issued to Das, Ranka, and CJP founder Abhijit Dipke in connection with the defamation suit lodged by Bhatia. The court has directed the defendants to respond to Bhatia’s allegations. Notably, the court clarified that no presumption of wrongdoing is being made against the CJP leaders at this juncture. “For the time being, we want to make sure there is no acrimony on this issue. We are not imputing anything against anyone right now,” remarked Justice Gedela.
The defamation suit, demanding ₹2 crore in damages, was filed by Bhatia following an AI-generated graphic that falsely attributed derogatory remarks to him regarding Swatantra Bhardwaj, who is accused of assaulting the father of CJP activist Nishu Azad. Das had shared this graphic on X, leading Bhatia to deny the statements and request a retraction and apology.
More Read
During the court proceedings, Das acknowledged the AI-generated nature of the post and subsequently removed it, although he queried Bhatia on whether he disagreed with the purported statement. Ranka, who had amplified the post by sharing it with a mocking caption, agreed to the court’s suggestion to voluntarily remove it.
In court discussions, Justice Gedela expressed understanding of the youthful enthusiasm of the CJP leaders but emphasized the importance of addressing grievances through more constructive means. “There are different ways of protesting. Do you really need to go to this? You are youngsters. You have your anxiety. That’s understandable but saying something like this or putting something like this may not be correct,” the judge advised.
The court also engaged with Bhatia, questioning the necessity of escalating the matter to litigation and highlighting alternative methods of resolving such disputes. “See, Mr. Bhatia, there are other ways of handling it instead of coming here,” the judge stated.
More Read
Bhatia had requested a dynamic injunction, but the court declined, citing the absence of intellectual property considerations and the need to hear from the defendants first. Despite Bhatia’s concerns about the ongoing social media discussion, the court recognized the public nature of social media discourse, even acknowledging that the judiciary itself is not immune to scrutiny. “Mr. Bhatia, a lot of people say a lot of things about the court. I am just generally saying, people do lampooning, people do so many things, we take it,” Justice Gedela commented.
Ultimately, the court allowed Bhatia to seek removal of future identical posts from Meta and X, instructing these platforms to act on such requests unless valid impediments are presented.
