HC directs take-down of posts linking BJP leader to 2022 Uttarakhand murder

The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the take-down of social media posts within 24 hours linking Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dushyant Gautam to the 2022 murder of Ankita Bhandari, a resort receptionist, in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal.

A bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna also restrained actor Urmila Sanawar, former BJP lawmaker Suresh Rathore, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and others from posting similar content.

Gautam filed a defamation suit against Sanawar, Rathore, two political parties, and Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal for linking him to the murder.

Justice Pushkarna observed that the allegations against Gautam were prima facie defamatory. She added that irreparable harm would be caused if the defendants were not restrained from disseminating the content.

She directed Meta, which operates social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, to take down the posts, as per the rules, if the defendants failed to comply with the directions within 24 hours. The court fixed May 4 as the next date of hearing.

Bhandari,19, was murdered after she was allegedly pressured for sexual favours at the resort of Pulkit Arya, son of a former BJP leader. Her body was recovered from a canal. A local court sentenced Arya and two others to life imprisonment.

In December, Sanawar alleged a “VIP”, who sought sexual favours, was a senior political leader. Sanawar released a clip in which Rathore is purportedly heard naming Gautam and another senior party leader as the alleged VIPs for whom Bhandari was allegedly being forced to provide sexual favours on the night of the murder.

Gautam also filed a case against Rathore and Sanwar, the Congress’s Uttarakhand unit, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, and AAP for creating and circulating false and fabricated audio and video recordings linking him to the murder.

Gautam’s lawyers, Gaurav Bhatia and Simran Brar, submitted the videos falsely insinuating their client’s involvement in the exploitation and killing of Bhandari was deliberately fabricated and circulated to portray him as a sexual predator. He added that there was no reference to him in the investigation or any judicial finding to that effect.

The lawyers said Sanawar’s videos were circulated, downloaded, edited, and re-shared across platforms. They added that they were embedded in videos created and disseminated through the social media handles of the Congress and AAP.

Bhatia said the circulation of the videos and social media posts tarnished his client’s reputation.