New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday, June 8, sought the stand of educator Faisal Khan, popularly known as ‘Khan Sir’, and other teachers on a plea by TV Today Network Ltd and its managing editor Anjana Om Kashyap seeking removal of their allegedly defamatory social media posts.
A vacation bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna refused to pass any interim order and listed the matter for consideration next week.
A senior counsel appearing for the plaintiffs said the teachers posted defamatory and derogatory social media posts against Kashyap, which must be taken down immediately.
“I need to hear them… In the interim, all those who are appearing may file a reply to the application,” the court responded.
Besides Khan Sir, the lawsuit has named Abhinay Maths founder Abhinay Sharma, ICS coaching co-founder Babita Tyagi, and Naiya Paar Education’s Arvind Bhadauriya as defendants.
The plaintiff’s counsel contended that the defendants used “toxic” and “abusive” language and even incited violence in their posts, which were reposted and disseminated by others.
The counsel for one of the defendants, however, submitted that the allegedly defamatory posts were only in reaction to a broadcast by Kashyap on a channel of the network.
Kashyap and TV Today said that on May 29, the journalist expressed a genuine concern about the credibility of YouTube teachers during a broadcast on Aaj Tak news channel in the aftermath of the NEET paper leak controversy.
The defendants — educators, operators of educational platforms– “crossed the limit of fair criticism” and launched personal attacks on Kashyap’s character, integrity and professional reputation through social media posts between May 30 and June 4, the lawsuit alleged.
The plaintiffs have sought Rs 2 crore as damages from Khan Sir and others.
A prayer is also made to restrain the defendants from making any disparaging comments.
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