Dy CM moves Delhi High Court over alleged defamatory videos

New Delhi, Dec 02: Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary has approached the Delhi High Court seeking removal of social media videos allegedly showing him in a phone conversation with a woman carrying what he termed “sexual undertones.”

The matter came up for brief hearing before Justice Amit Bansal, who directed social media intermediaries Google and Meta to furnish details of the Facebook pages and YouTube channels that uploaded the content.

The court also asked Choudhary to implead the uploaders as parties to the suit.

During the hearing, the court noted that the defamation petition did not include a transcript or copies of the allegedly defamatory videos. Directing the Deputy Chief Minister to submit the material on record, the court instructed him to file the content in digital form.

“You file a pen drive containing the video,” the court observed while posting the matter for further hearing.

The High Court has fixed January 13 as the next date of hearing and said it will consider Choudhary’s request for interim relief after examining the material.

Choudhary is a member of the National Conference and represents the Nowshera constituency. He was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the Union Territory on October 16, 2024 after winning the 2024 Assembly election from Nowshera. [KNT]