A Delhi court has held NDTV’s Gargi Rawat liable for defamation for liking a tweet that falsely accused Abhijit Iyer-Mitra of rape. She has been ordered to pay Rs 10,000 in damages and delete the tweet if still visible.
New Delhi: A Delhi court has ordered NDTV journalist Gargi Rawat to pay damages of Rs 10,000 to defence analyst and columnist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for defamation. The case was based on Rawat’s “liking” of a defamatory tweet which falsely alleged that Iyer-Mitra had been accused of rape.
The order was passed on September 8 by District Judge Satyabrata Panda of the Patiala House Courts.
The Court noted that although the damages claimed by Iyer-Mitra were Rs 20 lakh, it was appropriate to award a much smaller amount after considering the facts. The judge observed that Iyer-Mitra himself was a controversial public figure.
The Court said that it was,
“quantifying the damages at Rs 10,000 against the claim of Rs 20 lakh after considering the mitigating factors, including the fact that Iyer-Mitra is ‘no stranger to controversy’.”
The order also pointed out that Iyer-Mitra,
“has, on various occasions, indulged in making objectionable, derogatory and reprehensible comments against various persons or sections of society through his social media posts.”
Finally, the Court ruled:
“In the result, decree is passed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant no.2 for damages of Rs 10,000/- only. In case this amount of damages is not paid within a period of two weeks from the date of the present judgment, then the amount of damages shall also carry interest @ 6% p.a. from the date of the judgment/decree till the actual realisation. It is further directed that, in case the impugned tweet is still showing on the profile or timeline of the defendant no.2 on the Twitter/X platform, then the same be permanently deleted and/or removed.”
This case arose out of a defamation suit filed by Iyer-Mitra against Gargi Rawat and Mumbai-based lawyer Dushyant Arora.
The background goes back to December 2019, when Iyer-Mitra wrote an article in The Print titled
“In Rana Ayyub, the White West has found its next Arundhati Roy”.
Journalist Rana Ayyub had shared this article on Twitter, calling it a “hitjob”. In reply to her tweet, Dushyant Arora wrote:
“The man has been accused of rape, he routinely engages in hate speech”.
Rawat “liked” this tweet, which later became the centre of the defamation claim.
Iyer-Mitra argued that Rawat’s action of liking the tweet meant it could be viewed by anyone who looked at her Twitter profile.
He said the false allegation was serious,
“the allegations made in the ‘defamatory tweet were false and frivolous and were of such nature that they would lower his reputation in the eyes of the right-thinking people.”
The dispute with Arora was settled after he issued a public apology on his Twitter profile. However, the claim against Rawat continued. The Court examined the issue and concluded that liking the defamatory tweet amounted to a form of republication.
The judge clearly said:
“In view of the aforesaid discussion, there is no manner of doubt that the act of the defendant no.2 in ‘liking’ the original defamatory tweet in question amounted to republication and, as a result, the defendant no.2 is liable for the tort of defamation.”
Rawat had argued that she was unfairly targeted, since many others had also liked, retweeted, or commented on the same tweet. But the Court did not agree with this defence.
It remarked:
“Hence, in the overall facts and circumstances of the case, although the online republication and circulation by the defendant no.2 was of a grave false allegation, however, taking into account the mitigating factors as discussed above, I consider it reasonable to grant the plaintiff damages on the lower side which are quantified as Rs 10,000 only against the plaintiff’s claim of Rs 20 lacs.”
Advocate Raghav Awasthi represented Abhijit Iyer-Mitra in this case.
Case Title:
Abhijit Iyer Mitra v Dushyant Arora and Anr
Read Order:
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on ECI
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
