NEW DELHI: Delhi high court Wednesday ordered Congress and AAP to remove, within 24 hours, social media posts linking BJP’s Dushyant Kumar Gautam to the 2022 murder of a woman at a resort in Uttarakhand.In an interim order passed on a defamation suit filed by Gautam, Justice Mini Pushkarna also restrained the two parties from posting any content targeting the BJP national secretary as the alleged “VIP” in the murder case.HC passed the interim order against other persons and entities, including Urmila Sanawar and Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, saying Gautam made out a prima facie case in his favour and, if the interim order to restrain the hosting of the “defamatory” content was not passed, irreparable injury would be caused to his reputation.Justice Pushkarna made it clear that if the content was not taken down within 24 hours, the social media platforms concerned should remove it.In 2022, the 19-year-old, a receptionist at a resort in Pauri, was murdered. The resort owner, Pulkit Arya, and two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.The controversy arose after an audio clip released by Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former MLA Suresh Rathore, said a “VIP” was linked to the case.Gautam has sought Rs 2 crore damages from Congress and AAP, the couple, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, its president Ganesh Godiyal, and Congress’s national media panellist Alok Sharma.
