Delhi High Court Swati Chaturvedi notice on OpIndia’s writ petition

Delhi High Court. File | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) asked Ms Swati Chaturvedi to respond to a plea filed by news portal OpIndia challenging a court order to remove two allegedly defamatory articles published about the journalist.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued the direction in an appeal filed by OpIndia challenging the May 13 order passed by the trial court and posted the matter for hearing on August 20.

In its May 13 order, the High Court recently ordered OpIndia to remove two articles about Ms. Chaturvedi, published about six years ago, finding that the continued circulation of the articles could cause “serious and irreparable damage” to her professional reputation while the defamation suit remains pending.

The trial court found that the “source articles” produced by the defendants did not prima facie support the claims made against Ms. Chaturvedi and accepted her argument that many of the allegedly defamatory statements could not be linked to material available in the public domain.

The court of first instance was particularly harsh about one of the most serious charges. It said the material submitted by OpIndia “prima facie nowhere shows” that Ms Chaturvedi was involved in the “extortion operation” as alleged in the impugned articles.

The court noted that as Ms Chaturvedi is a journalist and public commentator, her “professional reputation and credibility are of paramount importance”.

In its defence, OpIndia argued that any injunction would constitute a restriction on freedom of expression and relied on legal precedents warning courts against prior restrictions on media publications.

However, the trial court ruled that the temporary removal of the articles would not affect the defendant’s case because they have the opportunity to establish the truth of their claims during the trial.

Published – 26 May 2026 22:32 IST