Delhi Court Directs OpIndia To Remove Two Articles Against Journalist Swati Chaturvedi

A Delhi court has ordered Aadhyaasi Media and Content Services Private Limited, the company that operates the news portal OpIndia, to remove two articles published about journalist Swati Chaturvedi. District Judge Meenu Kaushik of the Patiala House Courts issued the order on May 15, 2026, after granting an interim injunction plea filed by the journalist.

The court’s ruling requires the defendants to block or remove the articles from the website www.opindia.com. In addition to the removal of the existing content, the court restrained OpIndia from publishing any further defamatory articles regarding Chaturvedi while her defamation suit remains pending.

Judge Kaushik determined that Chaturvedi would suffer irreparable loss and injury to her reputation if the articles continued to remain in the public domain. The court ordered that the articles be removed during the pendency of the suit or until further orders are issued.

Details of the Impugned Articles

The legal dispute centers on two specific pieces published by the news portal in 2018, and 2019. The first article, published on June 2, 2018, was titled Swati Chaturvedi may be delusional-Sources. The second article, published on May 8, 2019, was titled The Wire and its Star Journalist peddles another absurd lie about RSS and BJP and it's not for the first time.

Chaturvedi alleged that these publications were defamatory and caused harm to her professional reputation among her peers and within her professional circles. According to the journalist, the articles described her as delusional and accused her of fabrication and plagiarism.

Chaturvedi contended that the articles falsely claimed she worked with the website The Wire, which OpIndia described as a leftist propaganda website. One of the most serious allegations highlighted in the suit was the claim that the journalist had been involved in extortion rackets.

Arguments and Court Observations

In opposing the plea for an injunction, OpIndia argued that the articles were protected under constitutional guarantees of free speech. The news portal maintained that the publications were based on material already available in the public domain and that the content constituted fair comment within the accepted norms of journalism. Specifically, the defendants argued that describing The Wire as leftist did not amount to defamation.

However, the court found that the evidence provided by the defendants did not support the more severe claims made against the journalist. Judge Kaushik observed prima facie that the source articles relied upon by OpIndia failed to substantiate several serious allegations, particularly the accusation that Chaturvedi was involved in extortion rackets.

Chaturvedi further stated in her plea that the defendants had failed to remove the articles or issue an unconditional apology despite having received a legal notice prior to the court filing.

Legal Status

The current order serves as an interim measure to prevent further potential damage to the plaintiff’s reputation while the court decides the final outcome of the defamation suit. The defendants are now legally mandated to ensure the specified content is no longer accessible to the public on their platform.

The court’s decision to restrain the publication of future defamatory content ensures that the legal dispute over the 2018 and 2019 articles is not compounded by new publications during the litigation process.