The Delhi High Court said Sanju Verma cannot make derogatory remarks on ex-IPS officer Yashovardhan Azad’s professional career and asked her to withdraw the “blot on uniform” comment. The Court issued notice in Azad’s defamation plea and listed the matter for January 27, 2026.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday made it clear that BJP spokesperson Sanju Verma cannot make personal attacks on the professional career of former IPS officer Yashovardhan Jha Azad and asked her to withdraw a controversial remark posted by her on social media.
Justice Amit Bansal, while hearing a defamation case filed by Azad, observed that although Sanju Verma is free to criticise Azad’s opinions or views expressed during public debates, she cannot make allegations that harm his reputation as a police officer and public servant.
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The Court said that calling a retired IPS officer a “blot on the uniform” crosses the line of permissible criticism. Justice Bansal stressed that there was no factual basis for such a remark and urged Verma to remove that part of her comment.
During the hearing, Justice Bansal addressed Verma’s counsel, Advocate Raghav Awasthi, and said,
“You cannot put aspersion on somebody’s career and public life. There is no basis to say that… According to me, you should advise your client to remove that part. I will deal with all the objections. Are you willing to talk to your client about this part or not? You take instructions. There is no problem in a TV debate, you said he is so and so’s brother, but raising aspersions on someone while he was an officer is wrong,”
The Court thereafter issued notice to Sanju Verma in the defamation case filed by Azad and asked her counsel to speak to his client about removing the objectionable comment. The matter has been listed for further hearing on January 27, 2026.
Yashovardhan Jha Azad is a retired IPS officer who has served as Special Director in India’s Intelligence Bureau and has also held the post of Central Information Commissioner.
The dispute between Azad and Verma dates back to June and July 2025, when Verma participated in a television debate on India Today concerning the Kolkata rape case.
During the debate, Verma questioned Azad for not naming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while speaking about the incident.
She further suggested that Azad avoided naming the Chief Minister because he is the brother of Kirti Azad, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
After the debate, Verma shared the video clip on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). This led to an exchange of posts between the two. While responding to one of Azad’s comments, Verma made the remark,
“Absolutely…what a blot this man must have been on the uniform.”
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Azad, told the Court that his client had only spoken about the Kolkata rape incident.
He submitted that Verma shifted the focus of the debate by questioning Azad about his family connections and repeatedly asked why he was not naming Mamata Banerjee.
On the other hand, Advocate Raghav Awasthi argued on behalf of Sanju Verma that the tweets in question were posted in June and that Azad had failed to take recourse to the remedy available under the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
He also submitted that Verma’s comments were made in a particular context which, according to him, was not properly disclosed in the defamation suit. Awasthi further claimed that Azad had also made personal remarks against Verma.
Awasthi contended that even though Azad is not an active politician, he regularly appears on television debates and should be treated as a media personality.
He informed the Court that a detailed reply would be filed opposing the plea for interim relief.
After briefly hearing both sides, Justice Amit Bansal reiterated that the comment referring to Azad as a “blot on the uniform” should be removed and made it clear that such remarks against a person’s service record and public career are not acceptable.
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