Delhi HC summons Sudhir Chaudhary over defamatory show on youth protest

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday summoned journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and public broadcaster Doordarshan News in a defamation case filed by a 28-year-old civil services aspirant who attended youth protests at Jantar Mantar in July.

Vikram Sherawat, a volunteer with the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign, alleged in his petition that Chaudhary, in a broadcast on July 27, accused him of calling for the destruction of Parliament and creating a “Nepal-like situation” in India.

Sherawat also alleged that Chaudhary had described him as an “anti-national”.

“It was a mala fide act, meant to discredit a critic of the government, to paint a peaceful protest as anti-national, and to expose the plaintiff to public hatred and to danger,” his petition stated.

Sherawat has sought Rs 5 crore in damages from Chaudhary, his production company Essprit Productions and Doordarshan News.

The 28-year-old had participated in protests against alleged mismanagement of several competitive examinations, which began on June 6. The Cockroach Janta Party had held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar that day, demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, who was the Union Education Minister at the time.

On July 20, thousands joined the protest, two days after police forcibly took activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital while he was on a hunger strike for three weeks.

The protesters' march towards Parliament was met with a police crackdown. Dozens of people were injured after police used lathis and fired tear gas shells and pellet guns at the demonstrators.

The police action intensified the agitation, which subsequently spread to other parts of the country. Pradhan resigned as Education Minister on July 25.

In his petition, Sherawat said the statement attributed to him was actually made by an unidentified person at a different event. Chaudhary, however, allegedly claimed that Sherawat had made the statement during the July 20 demonstration, he said.

Sherawat accused Chaudhary of failing to verify the information before broadcasting it. He further alleged that Chaudhary aired a low-quality version of the footage, making it difficult to distinguish between the two men featured in it.

Hearing the case, Justice Subramonium Prasad on Monday issued notice restraining the national broadcaster from publishing and republishing the allegations against Sherawat.

The court said the plea will be considered on September 22.