Disposed

Anjali Birla D/O Shri Om Birla v. X Corp. & Ors.

Delhi HC13 May 2025CS(OS)/573/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Suit restraining publication of defamatory social media posts against the plaintiff. Intermediaries complied with the interim injunction; plaintiff did not press damages claim. Court decreed the suit, confirmed the injunction and directed take-down of blocked posts.

What did the court decide?

Interim injunction confirmed; Defendants 1 and 2 directed to take down/remove blocked social media posts and remove identical future posts on plaintiff's request.

Anjali Birla D/O Shri Om Birla Vs X Corp. & Ors. — Delhi HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

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$~80

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- CS(OS) 573/2024, I.A. 34146/2024, I.A. 11888/2025 and I.A. 38887/2024

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ANJALI BIRLA D/O SHRI OM BIRLA .....Plaintiff

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Through: Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sanyam Khetarpal, Mr. Aditya Manubarwala and Ms. Lisa Sankrit, Advocates.

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versus

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X CORP. & ORS. .....Defendants Through: Mr. Ankit Parhar and Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Advocates for D-1.

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Mr. Neel Mason, Ms. Ekta Sharma, Ms. Pragya Jain, Ms. Surabhi Katare and Ms. Pragya Jain, Advocates for D-2.

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Mr. Vineet Dhanda and Mr. Amit Tiwari, CGSCs along with Mr. Hussain Adil Taqvi, Mr. Saksham Sethi, Ms. Shweta Shandilya, Ms. Akansha Choudhary, Ms. Medha Haridas, Ms. Ayushi Srivastava and Mr. Ayush Tanwar, Advocates for D-3.

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CORAM:

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HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH

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O R D E R % 13.05.2025

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Present suit is filed by the Plaintiff inter alia for a decree of permanent injunction restraining the Defendants, their associates etc. from publishing, commenting, communicating, circulating or issuing in any manner, directly or indirectly, any defamatory material against the Plaintiff as also for a decree of mandatory injunction against the Defendants directing them to delete/remove/take down all false and libellous

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. CS(OS) 573/2024 Page 1 of 3 The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/05/2025 at 11:36:24

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posts/publications/tweets/re-tweets/captions/taglines/videos etc. which are defamatory to the Plaintiff.

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On 23.07.2024, Court found prima facie case in favour of the Plaintiff and restrained the Defendants from in any manner, directly or indirectly, publishing, posting, communicating, circulating, tweeting/re-tweeting the contents in the nature of one complained of in the suit. Defendants No. 1 and 2 were also directed to remove/block the social media contents, details whereof were given in Document No. 1 within 24 hours. It was further observed that in case the Plaintiff came across any other similar social media posts, she may bring the same to the notice of Defendants No. 1 and 2 and thereafter, the said Defendants shall remove the same.

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Mr. Nayar, learned Senior Counsel for the Plaintiff submits that after the grant of interim injunction in favour of the Plaintiff, the intermediaries have complied with the order and taken the requisite steps. On instructions, it is submitted that in light of this, Plaintiff does not press the relief of damages and refund of Court fee and thus, the suit be decreed, confirming the interim injunction.

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Learned counsel appearing for Defendant No. 1 submits that out of 16 posts in question in the present suit, 12 posts were removed by the originator and after the interim injunction order, Defendant No. 1 blocked access to the remaining 04 posts and if directed by the Court, they will be removed. It is further submitted that if Plaintiff brings to the notice of the said Defendant any identical social media post(s), the same shall be removed. It is, however, urged that important questions arise in the present suit which touch upon the role of an intermediary as also its obligations and liabilities and the questions of law be left open.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. CS(OS) 573/2024 The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/05/2025 at 11:36:24

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This is a digitally signed order.

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Page 2 of 3

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Learned counsel for Defendant No. 2 also adopts the same stand and submits that one social media post was blocked and the same shall be removed and in case any identical post is brought to the notice of Defendant No. 2, the same shall be removed.

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In light of the aforesaid submissions on behalf of the respective parties and referring to order dated 08.02.2023 passed by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in ‘ AX v. Google LLC’, CS (OS) No. 750/2022 , this suit is decreed in favour of the Plaintiff directing Defendants No. 1 and 2 to take down/remove the social media posts, whose access has already been blocked pursuant to the interim injunction granted by this Court vide order dated 23.07.2024. It is left open to the Plaintiff to bring to the notice of the intermediaries any identical offending social media post(s), which comes to the knowledge of the Plaintiff and on a request being made to remove the post(s), the same shall be removed. Interim injunction stands confirmed.

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All questions of law arising in the present suit are left open.

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Suit is disposed of along with pending applications.

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Registry shall draw up the decree sheet.

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Date of 31.07.2025 is cancelled.

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JYOTI SINGH, J

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MAY 13, 2025/ RW/Shivam

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This is a digitally signed order.

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Page 3 of 3

Anjali Birla D/O Shri Om Birla v. X Corp. & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Anjali Birla D/O Shri Om Birla v. X Corp. & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

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