By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the removal of fake reports and social media posts falsely claiming that Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, several judges and Union ministers travelled to London at public expense to participate in a badminton tournament.
Justice Tejas Karia ordered the Centre to issue notifications directing social media platforms, search engines, digital publishers and other intermediaries to remove, disable and de-index the “false, malicious and derogatory” content within 24 hours.
The court also restrained members of the public from uploading, publishing or circulating the content on any online platform.
Among the material identified for removal were reports published by The Print, National Herald and The Tribune, as well as a social media post by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi.
Observing that the content had the potential to erode public confidence in the judiciary, Justice Karia said the material appeared to be part of a “systematic misinformation campaign” aimed at maligning the Chief Justice of India and judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
The order came on a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which sought the removal of reports and posts alleging that several judges had attended the government-sponsored second International Bar and Bench Badminton Championship in London on June 7.
The Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, told the court that photographs circulating online were from a national-level Bar and Bench tournament held at Delhi’s Thyagaraj Stadium in November 2025 and not from London. Mehta also said the Chief Justice of India had not participated in any tournament in London and that the Union ministers named in the reports had not travelled to the United Kingdom during the relevant period.
The government’s fact-checking unit, PIB Fact Check, had earlier rejected claims that Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal attended the event in London.
Senior advocate Apoorv Kurup, appearing for the BAI, submitted that the tournament was intended to promote sportsmanship within the legal fraternity but had subsequently become the subject of a misinformation campaign.
The court directed authorities to preserve subscriber and account details of those responsible for uploading the content and initiate appropriate legal action in accordance with the law. The matter will next be heard on July 17.