CJP leaders agree to take down posts against Gaurav Bhatia, after court nudge

The Delhi High Court intervened on Thursday when Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked two leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, to consider removing social‑media posts that senior advocate and BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claims are defamatory. The judge’s oral direction came during a hearing of a Rs 2 crore defamation suit filed by Bhatia, who is seeking damages and the deletion of the contested content.

Justice Gedela set a 24‑hour window for the CJP leaders to confirm whether they would take down the posts, emphasizing that the court would not need to issue a formal takedown order if they acted voluntarily. He also noted that Bhatia had approached the court without first attempting an out‑of‑court resolution, and he questioned why CJP member Abhijeet Dipke was made a party to the suit when the posts in question did not target him. The hearing referenced Bhatia’s September 8 X posts that displayed the suit’s index and a screenshot of the parties involved.

The dispute centers on a video reposted by Dipke that was later identified as fabricated, portraying a man allegedly dancing with a glass of liquid as the Ram Mandir Trust CEO. Bhatia argues the content crosses the line into aggravated defamation, while the judge cautioned the young activists about the need for responsible expression and suggested alternative avenues for protest. The case highlights tensions between political speech on social media, legal redress mechanisms, and the role of the judiciary in mediating such conflicts.