Actor Shilpa Shetty filed a defamation case in the Bombay High Court against 29 media personnel and media outlets. The case also includes Facebook and Instagram. The suit was filed for ‘doing false reporting and maligning her image’ in connection to reporting about the pornography case involving her husband Raj Kundra.
The Bombay High Court, today, passed an interim order about injunction on her plea. The High Court noted, “No part of this shall be constructed as a gag on media The defendants other than those who've been asked to take down their articles will have to file an affidavit.”
The next hearing has been scheduled for 20 September.
Live and Law reported that Shilpa Shetty’s plea read, “That once besmirched by an unfounded allegation in print media and its quadrupled circulation on the electronic media, a reputation can be damaged forever, especially if there is no opportunity to vindicate one’s reputation.”
Shilpa Shetty had also moved the Court to restrain the publication of ‘incorrect, malicious, and defamatory’ content against her on websites or social media. In her lawsuit, she sought an unconditional apology, deletion of defamatory content, and also Rs 25 crore in damages.
The Court noted, “In any case, as Dr Saraf (Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf representing Shilpa Shetty) correctly points out, none if this should involve Ms Shetty's life as a parent. That aspect is clearly protected. The line between freedom of press & right to privacy will have to be balanced.”
Additionally, the court order stated that the issues in the suit will require ‘closer scrutiny’ because it is not possible to judge whether all defendants are “of the same defamatory stature.”
The 29 defendants in the case include, NDTV, Free Press Journal, Clapping Hands Private Limited, PeepingMoon.com, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The Court granted interim relief against three respondents, namely, Capital TV, one Heena Kumawat, and the YouTube channel Shudh Manoranjan.
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