The Delhi High Court last week directed conservative Twitter influencer Sumeet Thakkar to take down allegedly defamatory tweets made against India Today’s parent company, its top management, and employees. In an earlier hearing in May, the court had held that a few tweets made by Thakkar against India Today and its employees could be extremely damaging to their reputation and also cause personal injury to them and their family members. LiveLaw first reported this. The order, passed on November 18 by a single bench of Justice Mukta Gupta, directed Thakkar to remove 29 tweets flagged by India Today’s parent within 48 hours. In case Thakkar doesn’t remove the tweets in the stipulated time, Twitter will have to remove the tweets within 72 hours, the court held. The matter has now been listed for January 14. Thakkar was arrested in October for making allegedly objectionable remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and the state’s Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray. How the case started: TV Today Network — India Today’s parent company — had filed a lawsuit against Thakkar and Aadhyaasi Media and Content Services Private Limited, alleging that Thakkar had, on April 15, published 35 tweets making various allegations against India Today and its employees. Since then, TV Today Network alleged, he continued publishing several tweets using very disparaging and derogatory language against the group and its employees. The company, in a hearing in May, argued that the allegations made against them by Thakkar were baseless, and had also been retweeted by other…
