‘Video of journalist Rajat Sharma abusing Congress leader not fake or edited,’ X tells Delhi HC
Opposition leaders Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh and Ragini Nayak were told to delete their posts purportedly showing Sharma using abusive language on live TV.
A video posted by Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak on X showing senior journalist Rajat Sharma verbally abusing her on live television does not seem to be edited or fake, the social media platform told the Delhi High Court on Friday, reported Live Law.
A single bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a defamation suit filed by Sharma against Congress leaders Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera after they accused him of using abusive language on air during a show on India TV on June 4.
X on Friday said that the video, which was also shared by Ramesh and Khera on the social media platform, is “prima facie authentic”. It matches India TV’s raw footage of the incident as well as Sharma’s own filings in his defamation suit.
The raw footage was available on the India TV YouTube channel and shows Sharma uttering the words that he has denied using, X told the court, reported Bar and Bench.
The video was no longer available on the India TV YouTube channel as of Friday afternoon.
To prove that the video in the Opposition leaders’ posts was edited requires appreciation of evidence and is a matter for trial, the American social media company told the court.
X added that the court cannot conclude that the video was edited merely on the basis of Sharma’s “vague and unsubstantiated assertions”, Live Law reported.
X has filed an application in the High Court seeking the vacation of a June 14 interim order directing it as well as the Congress leaders to take down the video.
“Since the Injunction Application [filed by Sharma] fails to establish that the content is ‘malicious’ or ‘palpably false’, granting an injunction would also stifle public debate and allow the misuse of litigation to suppress public participation,” X told the court. “Therefore, the injunction application should be denied.”
A similar request was made by the Congress leaders as well.
The Congress leaders have not taken down their posts after the June 14 order, though the content has been blocked in India by X, Sharma’s lawyer Sandeep Sethi told the court.
The court directed Khera, Ramesh and Nayak to delete the posts by 7pm on Friday, reported Live Law. It also directed X to unblock the posts by 5 pm.
