A Saket Court took up a defamation suit filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala against Congress MLA Jassi Petwar and heard arguments on the plaintiff’s application for interim injunction under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The suit seeks damages along with a mandatory direction for removal of allegedly defamatory content from social media and a restraint against further publication of such statements.
During the hearing, Prateek Som, counsel for Chautala, argued that the statements circulated online were “per se defamatory,” attributing serious allegations without any supporting material, including imputations relating to deaths of farmers and corruption. It was contended that the content has caused continuing and irreparable harm to the plaintiff’s reputation due to its wide digital circulation.
Opposing the plea, the defendant’s side submitted that the statements formed part of political speech and should be viewed in context, asserting that no specific defamatory imputation arises when the full content is considered.
After hearing the parties, the Court reserved its order on the interim injunction application and listed the matter for pronouncement on May 20.