It is beyond a straw of doubt absolutely in the fitness of things that the Delhi High Court in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Himayani Puri vs Kunal Shukla & Ors on March 17 while taking the most commendable step in the right direction ordered the removal of defamatory content which links Union Minister Hardeep Puri’s daughter – Himayani Puri who is a US citizen based in New York to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 24 hours. It must be noted that the Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon’ble Ms Justice Mini Pushkarna ordered social media platforms like Twitter, Google, YouTube, Meta and Linkedin and other John Doe entities to take down the allegedly defamatory content against the Cabinet Minister’s daughter which was primarily aimed at tarnishing her reputation and so also of her father. It is also entirely in the fitness of things that the Bench minced just no words to clarify that for the time being the Court will consider take down of content in India alone since the ‘global takedown’ aspect is pending before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court.
By the way, it is worth paying singular attention that the Bench directed several media entities who had uploaded the content, including John Doe defendants (persons whose identities are unknown) to remove the content within a day. We must note that the Bench directed that if the uploaders fail to take down the posts, videos and links, social media intermediaries should block the content. However, what also needs to be taken into account is that the Bench while adding a rider clarified that this content blocking order against intermediaries would be confined to articles uploaded from and available in India and no global blocking order was being passed against the intermediaries at this stage since the ‘global takedown’ aspect is pending before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court. By any reckoning, it must be acknowledged that the Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon’ble Ms Justice Mini Pushkarna was most unequivocal in directing clearly that if users fail to delete the posts, social media platforms must take them down or block access. It was also most rationally and most commendably conceded by the Bench that Himayani Puri has a prima facie case and may suffer irreparable harm if interim relief is not granted. This one has to be gracious enough to concede also!
It would be instructive to note that the Bench hastened to add in its order directing and holding that, “Considering that the matter regarding injunction at global level is subject matter of Division Bench, orders in that regard may not be passed. It is directed that the directions passed today are to be followed within India jurisdiction, Indian domain. The present injunction order operates within Indian domain wrt videos and content uploaded within Indian jurisdiction and from IP addresses within India. In so far as URLs and links uploaded from outside India, defendants are directed to block access from being viewed in India.”
We also need to note that the matter is now listed for next hearing on August 7. It is worth noting that Himayani Puri has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit seeking John Doe order for taking down the content. It must be borne in mind that eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer – Mr Mahesh Jethmalani while appearing for Himayani argued vehemently that the allegations that were alleged against her are false and have been orchestrated merely because she is the daughter of a senior Union Cabinet Minister. Mr Jethmalani argued that earlier, the Minister’s wife was also subjected to such false insinuations with allegations of illegally acquiring overseas property.
It would be worthwhile to note that in view of concerns expressed by various internet intermediaries which included Google and Meta about whether an Indian court can issue global content blocking orders that would affect content uploaded from or available in other countries as well which is a legal question that is also pending before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court as they pointed out also while urging the Single Judge Bench not to pass a global block order and also called on the Bench to hear their detailed response before it may pass any global block order. The Single Judge Bench after perusing their submissions and hearing all sides eventually held that, “For the time being, it [blocking order] will be for India. Let them file a reply and then we will consider.” Very rightly so!
It merits mentioning that according to Himayani Puri’s suit, starting from February 22, 2026, several social media entities started making allegations that she (Puri) maintained direct or indirect business, financial, personal, or other network associations with Jeffrey Epstein and/or his criminal activities. It was also alleged that Real Partners LLC, where Himayani Puri was employed, received funding, financial benefits, or tainted funds from Epstein or his associates and that one Robert Millad allegedly acted in concert with Puri to engineer the collapse of Lehman brothers. Puri argued before the Bench that these allegations against her are entirely false, malicious and devoid of any factual foundation. She also added that she is being targeted in a coordinated and motivated manner with the clear intention of maligning and discrediting her, both in India and on a global scale. She also minced just no words to underscore that it is being done only because she is Hardeep Puri’s daughter.
What cannot be allowed to go unnoticed is that senior Apex Court advocate Mr Mahesh Jethmalani while leading the arguments on behalf of Himayani Puri most forcefully and most rationally argued pointing out to the Bench that, “She has been the subject of very scurrilous posts. This seems to be a concerted attack on the behest of some source which I will not reveal at this time. I am a victim of the attack because I happen to be the daughter of a Cabinet Minister. So there is both a personal malice and I suspect political malice as well. This is all a figment of someone’s imagination that a firm of which I used to be a partner received money from Epstein. I am accused of professional misconduct and moral turpitude. That is sum and substance of the nature of the defamation.” What Jethmalani has pointed out has lot of merit in it! We see nowadays that how to settle political scores and score brownie points most serious and scathing allegations are levelled at the drop of a hat without any prima facie proof to substantiate them which definitely should not be allowed to have a free run as it most severely tarnishes the reputation of a person for just no fault other than being from the family of an eminent and distinguished Union Minister as we see in this leading case also! No denying it!
It cannot be lost on us that the Bench then asked if any of the articles objected to by Himayani Puri were uploaded from outside India. Jethamalani who as lawyer represented Himayani Puri in his reply pointed out that, “All of them have been uploaded from India. I concede that if anything has been uploaded from outside India, then take down order may not be legal at this stage. But if they have been uploaded from India, a global take down is warranted. I have a global reputation.” Absolutely right!
Most commendably, the Bench in its courageous, concise and creditworthy order minced absolutely just no words to hold indubitably that, “Defendants 1-14 and John Doe are restrained from publishing or circulating the contents on any platform. Defendants 1-14 are directed to remove links and urls of impugned content. In case content is not taken down within 24 hours, the defendants 15-18 shall remove and block access to the posts, videos, articles and links. In addition to the aforementioned urls, the plaintiff is at liberty to inform platforms or intermediaries about subsequent urls regarding identical content which shall be acted upon by defendants 15-18. In case of any doubt, the defendants 15-18 are at liberty to seek clarification from plaintiff who will then apply to court.” It would be pertinent to note that defendants 1-14 have been named in the suit and include journalists and social media platforms. Defendants 15-18 are government authorities. The remaining defendants are John Doe (unidentifiable).
In a nutshell, it is high time and any allegations that scandalizes and defames any person must not be published without valid proof to substantiate it. It is very easy to defame anyone within no time but it takes years and decades to build a reputation and that is why there must be strict prohibition of publishing anything defamatory to any person without strong evidence to back it! It is through this lens that the Single Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising of Hon’ble Ms Justice Mini Pushkarna has also primarily based her judgment upon and most commendably has taken the right step to order takedown of posts that linked Union Minister Hardeep Puri’s daughter to Jeffrey Epstein in India. Of course, it merits just no reiteration that the Bench also very rightly directed that investigating agencies will not use material from journalists which cannot be substantiated in courts! There can be just no denying or disputing it!
Sanjeev Sirohi