Remove social media posts linking BJP's Dushyant Gautam to Ankita Bhandari murder case: Delhi HC

New Delhi, Jan 7 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to BJP General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam in a defamation suit and directed the Indian National Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and several other defendants to remove from social media posts and videos linking him to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna restrained the defendants from posting, circulating or re-posting any content which names or targets Gautam as the alleged "VIP" in the Ankita Bhandari case, and ordered them to take down the defamatory posts from social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X within 24 hours.

The Delhi High Court clarified that if the individual defendants and political parties fail to comply with the directions within the stipulated time, social media intermediaries, including X, Meta Platforms and Google LLC, shall remove the content in accordance with the Information Technology Rules.

The defendants in the suit include Urmila Sanawar, Suresh Rathore, the Indian National Congress, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, Ganesh Godiyal, the Aam Aadmi Party, Alok Sharma, Mohit Chauhan and the X account PMNehru, apart from the social media intermediaries.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on May 4.

The interim relief came on a suit filed by Gautam seeking the removal of the allegedly defamatory content and damages of Rs 2 crore.

Gautam has contended that his reputation was severely harmed by posts and videos circulated on social media portraying him as the "VIP" allegedly linked to the murder of Ankita Bhandari.

After hearing the matter, the Delhi High Court observed that a prima facie case was made out in favour of the plaintiff, adding that the balance of convenience lies in his favour and that irreparable injury would be caused if the defendants were not restrained from circulating the content.

Appearing for Gautam, senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia submitted that the allegedly defamatory material had been circulating for several days, and had gravely tarnished the plaintiff's reputation.

He urged the Delhi High Court to order the immediate removal of all such material, including proxy and identical content.

In his suit, Gautam has contended that the impugned posts and videos were fabricated and disseminated from December 24, 2025, onwards to create a false narrative linking him to a criminal case in which he is neither named as an accused nor indicted by any investigating agency or court.

The suit stated that the alleged defamatory posts on social media portrayed Gautam as a "sexual predator" and suggested he was the person for whose benefit Ankita Bhandari was allegedly exploited, contrary to the investigative and judicial record.

The background to the controversy relates to the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort near Rishikesh, who went missing in September 2022 and was later found dead.

In May 2025, a trial court convicted Pulkit Arya, son of a former BJP leader, and two others, sentencing them to life imprisonment.

Dushyant Kumar Gautam has maintained that there is no reference to him in the investigation or any judicial finding in the case.

The renewed outrage followed allegations made by television actor Urmila Sanawar on December 24, 2025, when she accused a senior BJP leader of being the previously unidentified 'VIP' linked to the case. She later said Gautam was the person referred to as 'Gattu'.

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