Court Accepts Defendant's Undertaking Not to Republish Tweets, Defers Deletion Plea for Detailed Hearing
In a significant interim order dated November 2, 2026, the Bombay High Court presided over by Justice Arif S. Doctor provided ad-interim relief to The Indian Express Pvt. Ltd. in a defamation suit filed against Mahesh Ram Jethmalani concerning a series of tweets. The plaintiff sought to restrain the defendant from republishing the allegedly defamatory tweets dated September 23 and 24, 2026, and also moved for deletion of certain portions of those tweets.
During the hearing, the Court noted that no other tweets concerning the plaintiff had been posted by the defendant, apart from the disputed ones. The defendant's counsel informed the Court that although the defendant had posted numerous tweets since then, the contentious tweets were not prominently visible on his X (formerly Twitter) account, requiring significant scrolling to access. The plaintiff raised concerns that the defendant might retweet or republish the disputed content, potentially causing further reputational harm.
In response to the Court's inquiry, the defendant's senior counsel, Mr. Zal Andhyarujina, stated on instructions that the defendant would not republish the impugned tweets. The Court accepted this undertaking as sufficient protection for the plaintiff at the ad-interim stage and declined to grant an immediate injunction restraining republication.
However, the plaintiff's request for deletion of certain portions of the tweets was not decided at this stage. The defendant expressed a desire to present material justifying the content of the tweets through an affidavit. The Court observed that such issues involving justification of the statements and the maintainability of the suit required a detailed hearing after the completion of pleadings.
Accordingly, the Court granted liberty to the defendants to file a detailed affidavit in reply to the interim application by November 20, 2026, with the plaintiff allowed to file a rejoinder by November 25, 2026. The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on November 27, 2026.
This interim order highlights the Court's cautious approach in balancing the protection of reputation with the freedom of speech on social media platforms, ensuring that detailed scrutiny is reserved for a full hearing after pleadings are complete.
Bottom Line:
Defamation - Ad interim relief - In suit complaining of defamatory tweets, where defendant on instructions stated that he would not republish the impugned tweets, Court accepted statement and held that such statement afforded sufficient protection to plaintiff at ad interim stage - Prayer for deletion of portions of tweets deferred for detailed hearing after pleadings, as issues of justification and maintainability required consideration.
Statutory provision(s):
Defamation Law (common law principles), Civil Procedure Code (Interim Relief), Information Technology Act, 2000 (applicable to social media posts)
Indian Express Pvt. Ltd. v. Mahesh Ram Jethmalani, (Bombay) : Law Finder Doc Id # 3011062
