Delhi High Court notice to Swati Chaturvedi on OpIndia’s plea against trial court order

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) sought a response from Ms. Swati Chaturvedi regarding a plea filed by the news portal OpIndia challenging a trial court order directing the removal of two allegedly defamatory articles published about the journalist.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the direction on an appeal filed by OpIndia challenging the May 13 order passed by the trial court and listed the matter for hearing on August 20.

In its May 13 order, the trial court recently directed OpIndia to remove the two articles, published around six years ago, about Ms. Chaturvedi, holding that the continued circulation of the pieces could cause “serious and irreparable injury” to her professional reputation while the defamation suit remains pending.

The trial court had noted that the “source articles” produced by the defendants did not prima facie support the claims made against Ms. Chaturvedi and accepted her argument that many allegedly defamatory statements could not be linked to material available in the public domain.

The trial court made a particularly sharp observation regarding one of the most serious allegations. It said the material filed by OpIndia “prima facie nowhere shows” that Ms Chaturvedi was involved in “running extortion rackets” as alleged in the impugned articles.

Court observed that because Ms. Chaturvedi is a journalist and public commentator, her “professional reputation and credibility are of paramount importance”.

In their defence, OpIndia had argued that any injunction would amount to a restriction on free speech and relied on legal precedents cautioning courts against prior restraint on media publications.

However, the trial court held that temporarily taking down the articles would not prejudice the defendant’s case because they remain free to establish the truth of their claims during trial.