HC On Shilpa Shetty Defamation Suit: Reportage Based On Police Sources Not Defamatory

Shilpa Shetty Defamation Lawsuit: The Bombay High Court observed on Friday that passing a blanket gag order on the media in the alleged porn racket case against Raj Kundra shall have a chilling effect on the freedom of the press. Justice Patel, according to reports, also added that there is a judicial limit on what can be construed as good or bad journalism.

Justice Gautam S Patel said in his statement, "The line between freedom of press & 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."

He further added that three videos uploaded on YouTube by three private persons must be taken down and not uploaded again as they were malicious. He further said that these three videos were uploaded with not even the slightest attempt to investigate the truth of the matter.

Shilpa Shetty's lawyer presented the videos and particular channels that commented upon Shilpa Shetty's personal life including her parenting among other things. Some of the articles mentioned in the plea had police statements stating that "Shetty cried and fought with her husband Kundra" after he was brought home.

The court further noted that the articles mentioned in the lawsuit do not seem to be defamatory. It further mentioned that "Reportage of something based on what police sources have said is not defamatory. If this had happened in the four walls of your house with no one around then the issue is different. But this has happened in the presence of outsiders. How is this defamation?"

Shetty had filed a lawsuit against the alleged defamatory articles and other content published online after the arrest of her husband, Raj Kundra in the porn film production case. She sought damages of ₹ 25 crores for causing irreparable loss and damage to her reputation.