Delhi court summons Congress leaders in Rajat Sharma defamation case

New Delhi: A Delhi court has ordered the summoning of Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh on a criminal complaint filed by senior journalist and India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, alleging defamation, forgery and creation of a false electronic record.

The order was passed on February 2 by Devanshi Janmeja, JMFC-04 (South-East), Saket Courts. The court said there were sufficient grounds to summon the three accused under Sections 465, 469, 471, 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. 

In his complaint, Sharma alleged that the accused made false and defamatory statements suggesting he used derogatory and abusive language during a live television debate, and supported the allegation by circulating a modified video with inserted captions. 

The order records that Sharma alleged Nayak posted a clip on X with superimposed text, and that Khera and Ramesh amplified the same through retweets and statements, leading to reputational harm. 

During pre-summoning evidence, the complainant and witnesses told the court that no abusive or objectionable language was used during the broadcast, and that the controversy triggered adverse reactions against Sharma after the posts went viral. 

The court also relied on a Forensic Science Laboratory examination sought during the inquiry stage. 

The FSL report, as noted in the order, stated that the videos uploaded by the accused showed “visible alteration”, with titles and captions indicating post-production editing. 

The order refers to a related civil suit in the Delhi High Court, where the court had held that it was prima facie evident from the debate video that no abusive language was used and directed takedown of the posts from the public domain. 

The Saket court said the material on record prima facie indicated the accused acted in concert to publish imputations that could harm the complainant’s reputation, while noting that nothing in the order would amount to an expression on the final merits of the case.