The Delhi High Court on Tuesday observed that an individual involved in politics must be “thick-skinned,” but a clear distinction should be made between satire and defamation.
Justice Amit Bansal made these remarks while hearing an application filed by BJP leader and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia. Bhatia sought the removal of “defamatory” content from social media concerning his appearance on a TV news show earlier this month. During the show, he was reportedly seen wearing a kurta “without any pants/pyjama.”
The counsel representing Bhatia informed the court that he was, in fact, wearing shorts and that the cameraman had mistakenly shown the bottom half of his body. The counsel further argued that the social media posts related to the incident violated Bhatia’s privacy and that the objectionable comments should be taken down.
Highlighting the need for caution, the judge stated, “We have to be very careful. The Supreme Court has said that you should not pass ex parte orders in such cases.” The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on September 25.
Bhatia’s counsel contended that the picture was “taken in the privacy” of his home and should not have been circulated without his consent. “It was an invasion of my (Bhatia’s) privacy. I was sitting in the privacy of my home. Such photos, first of all, may not be circulated without my consent,” he said.
In response, Justice Bansal noted, “You have the interview; they did not barge into your home. When you’re in politics, you’ve to be thick-skinned. We’ll have to cull out what’s satirical and what’s defamatory. So for now, we need to distinguish between offensive and satirical comments.”
However, the judge emphasized that obscene comments must be removed from social media platforms.
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