The Delhi High Court has directed the Union government to remove widely circulated posts falsely claiming that Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and several Supreme Court judges and Union ministers had traveled to London earlier this month to participate in a badminton tournament at public expense, observing that such false information has brought bad reputation to judicial institutions.
A bench of Justice Tejas Karia on Friday observed that the posts were prima facie false, malicious and insulting to the judiciary, the executive and the sport of badminton.
“The continued circulation and dissemination of such content has a direct impact on the reputation of these institutions and, if not immediately curbed, is likely to erode public confidence in the justice system,” the report noted.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) in which it sought the removal of social media content alleging that a large Indian delegation including senior judges and ministers had attended a badminton event in the UK.
Even as the Centre, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said the posts circulating on social media were “completely false and misleading” and sought to create a “fabricated narrative” around the visit, Justice Karia initially noted that the Union government was empowered to take action against social media intermediaries spreading such information.
In its detailed order, published on Saturday, the court noted that the posts indicated a “systematic disinformation campaign” aimed at damaging the reputation of the Chief Justice, judges of the Supreme Court, high courts and federal ministers. “The impugned content does not amount to mere criticism, commentary or fair reportage, but appears to be based on patently incorrect factual assertions, including the distribution of photographs unrelated to the event and attribution of participation to persons who, based on the material before this court, were not present at the event.”
Justice Karia said the alleged content was also termed false and fabricated by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-checking exercise and, in fact, relates to a badminton tournament held in November 2025 at the Thyagraj Stadium.
“The dissemination of such false and misleading information, especially when directed against the constitutional courts, would cause serious and irreparable harm to public confidence in the system of administration of justice,” the court said.
The court ordered the Center to issue a notice directing social media intermediaries to remove and block access to fake news articles and videos related to the event. Going further, the court also directed the intermediaries to preserve the information of the uploaders and account operators involved in spreading the alleged content and submit it to the government which will take appropriate legal action.
