Justice Sachin Datta said that there must be some semblance of truth in the allegations made in the article.
“Show me the basis. What is the material on which you made these allegations? Today I need to see what is the balance of convenience. Show me that there is semblance of truth in your allegation. As a member of press, there is no law against sensationalism? You can indulge in exaggeration? There must be some semblance of truth,” the Court remarked.
This was after Kumar told the Court that the recent controversy surrounding Dwarka expressway land acquisition was concocted by The Wire with the intent to provoke social media users to tarnish his reputation.
The Wire had published a report on November 9, 2023 titled ‘Links of son of Delhi Chief Secretary to Beneficiary’s Family in Land Over-Valuation Case Raise Questions’.
The report said that Naresh Kumar’s son Karan Chauhan had links with a family which benefitted from the hiked compensation when a plot of land measuring 19 acre in Delhi’s Bamnoli village was acquired by the NHAI for the Dwarka Expressway.
Kumar then filed the present defamation suit before the High Court through advocates through Advocates Bani Dikshit, Uddhav Khanna and Krishan Kumar against The Wire and reporter Meetu Jain for defamation.
He sought the takedown of the story and tweets related to the story and also prayed for directions to restrain The Wire from publishing any further defamatory allegations and to take down of tweets related to the story.
Kumar’s counsel asserted that the report by The Wire against Kumar was published to “please someone” since the Delhi Chief Secretary was instrumental in revealing the Delhi excise scam.
Source: Barandbench
