Effort to malign CJI, judiciary: Court orders removal of viral London event posts
The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the removal of fake reports and social media posts falsely claiming that Chief Justice of India () Surya
The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the removal of fake reports and social media posts falsely claiming that Chief Justice of India () Surya Kant, several other judges and Union ministers had travelled to London at public expense to participate in a badminton tournament. Justice Tejas Karia ordered the government to issue notifications to social media platforms, search engines, digital publishers and other intermediaries, directing them to remove, disable access to and de-index the “false, malicious and derogatory” content within 24 hours. Read Full Story The court also restrained members of the public from uploading, publishing, circulating or sharing the impugned content on any social media platform, search engine, web-hosting service or digital media platform.
Justice Karia observed that the material appeared to be part of a “systematic misinformation campaign” aimed at maligning the reputation of the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and warned that such content had the potential to erode public confidence in the judiciary. “The impugned content does not merely amount to criticism, comment or fair reportage, but appears to be founded on demonstrably incorrect factual assertions,” the court said, noting that unrelated photographs had been circulated and participation in the event had been wrongly attributed to several individuals who were not present. The court further held that the dissemination of false and misleading information, particularly when directed against constitutional courts, had the potential to cause “serious and irreversible injury” to public confidence in the justice delivery system.
According to a report in Bar and Bench, the matter has been listed for compliance on July 17. The order came on a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which sought the removal of fake news reports and social media posts claiming that several dozen judges had participated in the government- 2nd International Bar and Bench Badminton Championship held in London on June 7. The controversy stemmed from viral social media posts alleging that around 75 Indian judges, along with Union ministers and Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, had travelled to London to participate in the tournament at taxpayers' expense.
However, the government's fact-checking unit rejected the allegations. According to PIB Fact Check, claims that Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal had travelled to London for the event were false. It also clarified that the photographs being circulated online were not from London but from a national-level Bar and Bench badminton tournament held at Delhi's Thyagaraj Stadium in November 2025. Ends
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