Bengal lawyer Shantanu Sinha, who allegedly posted defamatory content against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Malviya, has submitted an affidavit in the Delhi High Court, stating that he deleted the post.
Sinha mentioned in his affidavit that he removed the posts to “resolve the issue quietly and does not want to cause any unwanted harm to the BJP.”
Advocate Swarnendu Chatterjee appearing for Sinha during the hearing on 28 January said that the impugned post of June 2024 stands deleted, and an affidavit to that extent was filed on 27 January. Further, as per the oral statement of the petitioner recorded by the court, the other posts of 30 August and 4 September stand deleted too. The compliance affidavit was filed on 29 January. The matter was directed to be listed on 7 May while the Trial Court date is 10 March.
However, Malviya’s legal team has filed a counter-affidavit, arguing that simply deleting a post after making unfounded and defamatory claims is not a sufficient remedy. They insisted that the trial must proceed, contending that the seriousness of the allegations requires a complete judicial process to address the harm caused.
Sinha had earlier moved the Delhi High Court and sought to quash the complaint filed by Amit Malviya. The complaint, pending before the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi, was challenged along with the order dated 31 July, 2024, which issued a notice to Shantanu Sinha regarding the proviso to Section 223 of BNSS.
The matter originated from a Facebook post by Shantanu Sinha, which Malviya found derogatory and defamatory. Aggrieved by the post, Malviya issued a legal notice on 8 June, 2024, asking the RSS member to withdraw the public post and tender an unconditional apology. Subsequently, Malviya filed a complaint on 28 July and initiated criminal defamation proceedings against him.