The Delhi High Court directed the Congress, AAP, and several social media platforms to remove posts linking BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case, terming the allegations prima facie defamatory and restraining further circulation.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court ordered the Congress party, the Aam Aadmi Party, and various social media platforms to take down content that associates BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam with the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case.
The court deemed the allegations to be prima facie defamatory.
The Congress party reiterated its call for a central investigation into the 2022 murder, alleging that the BJP is protecting influential figures supposedly connected to the crime.
Earlier, Dushyant Kumar Gautam filed a defamation case in the Delhi High Court against the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and several individuals due to social media posts that associate him with the 2022 Ankita Bhandari case.
Gautam was seeking the removal of the allegedly defamatory material and claims Rs 2 crore in damages.
The Ankita Bhandari case involves the murder of a 19 years old resort receptionist in Uttarakhand in September 2022. It is alleged that Bhandari was pressured to provide sexual favors to guests at a resort owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of a former BJP leader.
Her body was found in a canal, and a court later sentenced Arya and two accomplices to life imprisonment for her murder.
Recently, controversy reignited when Urmila Sanawar, the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, claimed that a “VIP” who sought sexual favors from Bhandari was a prominent leader. Sanawar released an audio recording in which Rathore is purportedly heard naming Gautam and another senior party official as the alleged VIPs.
Rathore subsequently contended that the audio clip was generated by AI and accused Sanawar of attempting to deteriorate the party’s reputation. Gautam has also dismissed the allegations.
In his legal petition, Gautam asserts that the defamatory videos and posts began circulating on December 24, 2025, and quickly gained traction.
The plea argues that the content was intentionally fabricated and disseminated to construct a false narrative linking him to a criminal case in which he has never been named as a suspect or implicated by any investigative body.
He contends that this campaign constitutes “fake news” aimed at gaining political advantage and causing irreversible harm to his public image.
The petition mentioned that the Uttarakhand Police have filed multiple FIRs against Urmila Sanawar and Suresh Rathore for allegedly spreading misinformation related to the Ankita Bhandari case.
According to the BJP leader, despite thorough investigations, no evidence has been found connecting him to the incident.
Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia represented Dushyant Kumar Gautam.