The Bombay high court on Friday directed that some content posted online and by news publications about actress Shilpa Shetty be pulled down while maintaining that this should not be construed as a 'gag order' on the media.
The directions were given in response to the actress's plea seeking to prevent the publication of defamatory material about her online and in the news in the wake of the arrest of her husband, entrepreneur Raj Kundra.
The actress filed a defamation suit worth Rs25 crore against 29 respondents including social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as news channels such as NDTV and Free Press Journal, the website PeepingMoon.com, and Clapping Hands Pvt Ltd.
According to legal website, LiveLaw.in, the court offered the actress interim relief against three respondents, namely Capital TV, a channel from Uttar Pradesh; Heena Kumawat, who claimed to be a friend of the actress; and a YouTube channel, Shuddh Manoranjan.
Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, who appeared for the actress, pointed out several videos as defamatory content posted online.
LiveLaw.in quoted justice Gautam S Patel as observing, "The line between freedom of press and right to privacy will have to be balanced. It is possible that freedom of speech may have to be narrowly tailored."
The court further stated, "I believe that some of the issues this suit raises will require closer scrutiny because it is not possible to say at this stage that all the statements by the defendants are of the same defamatory stature."
Justice Patel stated, “I am making no order, but this is not refusal of interim or ad-interim relief.”