Aaradhya Bachchan case: Delhi HC says 'No technicality can come in way of fake news'

The Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that 'technical reasons' cannot obstruct the way of justice in cases like that of children like Aaradhya Bachchan, wherein misleading videos were posted about her health on YouTube. The court acknowledged that the nature of the content published on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan’s daughter was completely intolerable to the law. It further stated there is no reason to be lenient about the content published online. Notably, the Bachchans had moved Delhi HC against YouTube channels publishing false reports on Aaradhya Bachchan's health.

“This court has seen images and clips provided with the plaint. Though it's not the first time misleading information is being circulated about a celebrity, where information is related to children of tender years, it reflects morbid perversity on part of the person sharing the videos, also shows empathy towards the child in question,” observed the Delhi HC.

Completely intolerable in law

The HC further added, “Every child is entitled to respect, be it a child of celebrity or commoner. Dissemination of misleading information to a child especially as regards the physical and mental health is completely intolerable in law." The court, taking a strong view on the matter, said that it would not allow any technicalities to hamper the delivery of justice in such cases, “No technicality can come in way of the court coming in when such attempts are noticed.”

The Delhi High Court has restrained a bunch of YouTube channels from disseminating or further transmitting videos with false claims about Amitabh Bachchan’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Aaradhya Bachchan. Justice C Hari Shankar, while issuing notice on a plea by the Bachchans restrained the YouTube channels along with their associates from further sharing the videos identified in the plaint.

Fake news by YouTube channels 

Aaradhya Bachchan, through her parents, had filed an injunction in the Delhi HC against fake media reports against her, citing that she is a minor. Aaradhya Bachchan, in her petition, stated, "The defendants' sole motivation is to unlawfully profit from the reputation of the Bachchan family, irrespective of the damage-causing to the plaintiffs and their family members."

She was recently seen with her mother Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the opening of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, where the mother-daughter duo was also seen posing to the media for a Photo-Op.