Aaradhya Bachchan urges Delhi High Court to pass summary judgment on plea over misinformation

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice on an application seeking summary judgment in a suit moved in 2023 by Aaradhya Bachchan, the grand-daughter of actor Amitabh Bachchan, over circulation of misleading information about her on the internet..Justice Mini Pushkarna briefly heard the arguments of the counsel representing Bachchan and issued notice to the defendants Google, Bollywood Time and other websites. The next date of hearing in the matter is March 17..Bachchan's counsel, Advocate Pravin Anand, stated that the application for summary judgment under Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) was moved as the defendants failed to appear before the Court and their right to defend already stands closed. A summary judgment is a procedure by which the courts can quickly decide civil cases without recording oral evidence. .Aaradhya Bachchan through her father Abhishek Bachchan had moved the High Court in 2023 to restrain various YouTube channels and John Doe defendants (unknown people) from circulating videos that claimed Aaradhya was severely unwell and has been admitted to hospital. One of the videos even claimed that she has passed away. Even morphed pictures were also used in the videos. Bachchan asserted that the videos violate her right to privacy and the intellectual property rights, which vests in the Bachchan family..The Court had then granted interim injunction in Bachchan's favour, restraining the defendants from posting any material on her health."Every child is entitled to be treated with honour and respect, be she the child of a celebrity or the child of a commoner. Dissemination of misleading information relating to a child, especially as regards her physical or mental wellbeing, is something which is completely intolerable in law. No technicalities can come in the way of the Court stepping in, where such attempts are brought to its notice," Justice C Hari Shankar had observed, while ordering takedown of the videos. The suit has remained pending since then..Advocates Pravin Anand, Vaishali Mittal and Gitanjali Sharma appeared for Aaradhya Bachchan. Advocates Mamta R. Jha, Shruttima Ehersa and Rahul Choudhary appeared for Google.[Read Order]