The Central government approached the Delhi High Court seeking urgent directions to curb alleged fake news claiming judges and ministers jointly participated in a London badminton tournament. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said false and misleading information continued circulating despite official fact-checks and clarifications.
The central government moved the Delhi High Court, seeking urgent directions to stop the spread of alleged fake news claiming that members of the judiciary and the executive jointly participated in a badminton tournament in London.
The issue was mentioned before Justice Tejas Karia by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who requested an expedited listing of the petition.
He argued that false and misleading information continued to circulate on social media platforms despite official fact-checking and clarifications issued by the authorities.
The SG submitted that fabricated reports and online posts were being circulated, alleging that several judges and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had taken part in a badminton tournament in London.
He contended that the claims were demonstrably untrue and that their continued circulation was causing reputational damage to judicial institutions and weakening public confidence in the administration of justice.
The Centre also informed the court that while a fact-check had already been carried out and the allegations had been officially denied, the misinformation continued to spread across different digital platforms. It was further submitted that such content adversely affects the image and credibility of the judiciary.
After considering the submissions, Justice Karia agreed to list the matter for hearing on the same day, provided the petitioner cures procedural defects in the filing by 2:30 pm.
The controversy stems from reports circulated earlier this month by certain social media accounts and YouTube channels claiming that Meghwal had participated in a badminton tournament in London on June 7, along with around 75 judges.
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The Ministry of Law and Justice subsequently issued a clarification categorically denying the allegations and describing the reports as fake news.
The Ministry stated that the Union Law Minister was in India on the date in question and had not attended any such event in London.
The Ministry further clarified that the photographs used along with the viral claims were not from any event held in London. It said the images were older photographs from a badminton tournament organised in Delhi last year and had been shared out of context to give credibility to the false narrative.