"Critique, not attack": Delhi Court To Raghav Chadha on 'Sold Out' Post

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea filed by BJP MP Raghav Chadha seeking the removal of allegedly defamatory online posts claiming he had "sold himself for money."

Hearing the matter, Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that, at first glance, the posts appeared to be criticism of Chadha's political move to the BJP rather than a violation of personality rights. The court noted that the distinction between defamation and political criticism is often "quite thin."

One of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party, Raghav Chadha had last month quit AAP and joined the BJP.

Addressing Chadha's counsel, Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, the court orally remarked that the case did not prima facie involve personality rights.

"Unlike other judgments, here it's just criticism over decisions taken by you in the political arena. It is a comment by a person criticising a political decision," the court observed.

Referring to the photographs objected to by Chadha, the judge further said the material appeared to be "an attack or critique" and asked counsel to confine arguments to the relief sought.

"It is not a defamation suit. It is a suit on the basis of personality rights," the court said.

Nayar clarified that, for now, Chadha was only pressing for interim relief against allegedly defamatory posts. The court, however, reiterated that the content appeared to be criticism of a political decision.

"The story which has gone that I have traded for money - that can't be criticism," Chadha's lawyer argued.

The court responded by saying the issue would require debate and indicated that the matter may not warrant an interim injunction at this stage.

"That would be a matter of debate... Let me appoint an amicus," the judge said.

As the request for interim relief continued, the court drew a distinction between commercial misuse of personality rights and criticism of public figures.

Referring to an earlier ruling involving Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the court said that judgment related to "the way he speaks and his demeanour." The High Court eventually reserved its order on interim relief.

In his suit, Chadha has sought a John Doe order against unidentified individuals and several known defendants, seeking to restrain them from using his photographs and other personal attributes without consent.

The suit has been filed through advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe.

The Delhi High Court has previously granted protection to the personality rights of several public figures, including Shashi Tharoor, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, entrepreneur Aman Gupta, actors Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol Devgan, R Madhavan and NTR Junior, spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya, singer Jubin Nautiyal and former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.

A similar suit has also been filed by actor Salman Khan.