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Shilpa Shetty Defamation Suit: Bombay High Court Orders Videos Of The Actress To Be Taken Down
It was earlier reported that actress Shilpa Shetty had filed a defamation suit in Bombay High Court against 29 defendants that included web portals, media outlets and unknown persons for 'false reporting and maligning her image', post the arrest of her businessman-husband Raj Kundra on July 19, in a case related to adult film business racket. Now, according to a news report in the Scroll, the Bombay High Court has ordered removal of the videos featuring the actress. The Court observed that a UP-based news channel needs to take down their video on Shilpa, which they stated is allegedly accusing the actress of being 'duplicitous at a personal level.'
Not only this, but a host of an entertainment channel and an entertainment journalist has also taken down their respective videos on Shilpa Shetty after receiving a defamation suit by her on Thursday (July 29). The two have also undertaken to not upload the video again. However, Justice Gautam Patel who passed the order mentioned that this was not a gag on the media. Patel revealed that not all statements are defamatory that were made by the defendants and that reporting something that has already been said by the police officials, does not fall under the category of defamatory.
Justice Gautam Patel said, "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. But it is not possible to ignore the constitutional pinning of privacy nor to say that if a person is a public figure, that person is deemed to have sacrificed his right to privacy."
Apart from this, the court questioned how reporting about Shilpa Shetty crying falls under defamation. According to Bar And Bench, Justice Gautam Patel said, "Are you saying if you cannot say anything nice about Shilpa Shetty, do not say anything at all? What you are asking me to do can have a very chilling effect on the freedom of the press."
According to an earlier news report in ANI, Shilpa Shetty had urged the court to issue a "permanent and mandatory injunction restraining her defendants, (themselves and through their servants, agents, assigns and/or any person claiming by or through them) from making and/or publishing and/or reproducing and/or circulating and/or communicating, any derogatory and defamatory statements."
