The Bombay High Court has declined to direct the immediate deletion of two allegedly defamatory posts published by Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani against The Indian Express on the social media platform X. However, the Court recorded an undertaking on his behalf that he would not republish the posts.
Justice Arif S. Doctor passed the order on November 2, 2026, while hearing an interim application filed by The Indian Express Pvt. Ltd. in its defamation suit against Jethmalani and others.
The dispute arises from two posts in which Mahesh Jethmalani allegedly accused the newspaper of political bias in favour of the Congress party and compromising its editorial independence. He also questioned its reporting concerning the Election Commission of India and alleged financial links between the Congress and the newspaper group, referring to advertisement payments during the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026 and the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023.
Mahesh Jethmalani’s counsel submitted that he had posted around 45 tweets since the disputed posts, which were no longer immediately visible on his X account and could be accessed only by scrolling down substantially. The newspaper’s counsel argued that Mahesh Jethmalani could still retweet them and sought interim protection. To this, Mahesh Jethmalani undertook not to republish the posts, a statement accepted by the Court.
The newspaper also pressed for the deletion of identified portions of the posts. However, Mahesh Jethmalani submitted that he wished to place material justifying them on record through an affidavit. Justice Doctor observed that deciding the request for deletion would require a detailed hearing, including consideration of the defence of justification and the maintainability of the suit itself. The Court therefore deferred the final consideration of the interim application until completion of pleadings.
Mahesh Jethmalani and the other defendants have been permitted to file their detailed reply affidavit by November 20, 2026. The newspaper may file its rejoinder, if any, by November 25, 2026.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 27, 2026.
