The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a directive to remove false reports and social media posts alleging that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, along with several other judges and union ministers, traveled to London on public funds to participate in a badminton tournament. Justice Tejas Karia mandated that the government notify social media platforms, search engines, digital publishers, and other intermediaries to take down, disable, and de-index the ‘false, malicious, and derogatory’ content within 24 hours.
Public Restraint on Dissemination
The court further instructed the public to refrain from uploading, publishing, circulating, sharing, or otherwise disseminating the Impugned Content on any social media platforms, search engines, web-hosting services, digital media platforms, or other online media. The content marked for removal includes reports from news outlets such as The Print, National Herald, and The Tribune, along with a tweet by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi.
Impact on Judicial Confidence
Justice Karia noted that the material could erode public trust in the judiciary, as it ‘indicates a systematic misinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts.’ The court emphasized that the Impugned Content was not just criticism or commentary but was based on factually incorrect assertions, including photographs not related to the event and false attributions of participation.
The Court stressed that spreading such false information against Constitutional Courts could severely damage public confidence in the justice delivery system. The matter has been scheduled for compliance on July 17.
Petition by the Badminton Association of India
This order was passed following a petition by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which sought the removal of fake news and posts alleging that numerous judges attended the government-sponsored 2nd International Bar and Bench Badminton Championship in London on June 7.
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Recently, viral social media posts claimed that approximately 75 Indian judges, including Union ministers and CJI Kant, traveled to London for a badminton tournament funded by taxpayers. However, the government’s fact-checking unit dismissed several key accusations. According to PIB Fact Check, claims about Rijiju and Meghwal being in London for the event were false, and the circulated images were actually from a badminton tournament at Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi in November 2025, not London.
Government’s Standpoint
Senior Advocate Apoorv Kurup, representing the BAI, argued that the event aimed to foster sportsmanship and camaraderie within the legal community but was marred by a misinformation campaign. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, informed the court that the images circulating online were not from the London event but from a national-level Bar and Bench badminton tournament at Delhi’s Thyagaraj Stadium in November 2025. He also confirmed that the Chief Justice of India did not participate in any badminton tournament in London and that the ministers named in the reports did not visit the United Kingdom during this period.
After reviewing the case, the court concluded that the misinformation appeared to be part of a systematic campaign against the judiciary. Consequently, it directed authorities to preserve subscriber and account information of those responsible for uploading the content and to initiate appropriate legal action as per the law.
Senior Advocate Apoorv Kurup, along with advocates Rajat Nair, Dhruv Pande, and Gurjas Narula, represented the Badminton Association of India. The central government was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Ashish Dixit.
