DEHRADUN: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge, Dushyant Gautam, has filed a civil defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against multiple parties over allegedly false, derogatory, and defamatory content circulated on social media linking him to the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
The lawsuit seeks substantial damages, citing severe reputational harm caused by online campaigns that allegedly branded him a "VIP" involved in the high-profile without any judicial finding.
Court documents reveal that Gautam has named 12 defendants in the suit, including former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, Urmila Sanawar (who claims to be the wife of Suresh Rathore), and major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The plea demands approximately Rs 2 crore in damages based on defamation, alongside requests for permanent and mandatory injunctions to halt the spread of the alleged libellous material. A court fee of Rs 1,97,613 has reportedly been deposited for the filing.
The core of Gautam's complaint revolves around videos, reels, posts, and captions disseminated across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X (Twitter). "Serious allegations have been leveled against me, suggesting I was the 'VIP' connected to the Ankita Bhandari case, all without any judicial conclusion," stated the filing, which terms the online activity a "social media trial."
The petition asserts that these unsubstantiated claims have caused deep damage to his social, political, and personal standing. The Court is set to review the government's submitted data and the detailed site plan related to the matter in two weeks.