IN AN ELEVEN-PAGE ORDER, the Delhi High Court issued broad directions to takedown the media reports, videos, and social media posts that depicted the participation of the Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’), sitting judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and Union Ministers in the 2nd International Bar & Bench Badminton Championship held in London on June 7, 2026.
A report on the proceedings before Justice Tejas Karia was covered by The Leaflet on June 19. The full report can be read here.
Background to the Petition
In the lead-up to the case, a wave of reports, videos and posts were circulated regarding the 2nd International Bar & Bench Badminton Championship arranged in London that claimed that the CJI along with the Law Minister participated in the championship. Photographs from an earlier domestic championship were shared to support the allegation.
The Badminton Association of India (‘BAI’), the national governing body for the sport, moved the Delhi High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to seek takedown of the misleading, factually incorrect, and allegedly motivated reporting, statements, publications, posts, concerning judges of the constitutional courts in connection with the London event.
The Badminton Association of India moved the Delhi High Court to seek takedown of the factually incorrect posts concerning judges of the constitutional courts at the London event.
Submissions by BAI
Senior Advocate Mr. Apurv Kurup for BAI argued that the championship organised by former international badminton player Ms. Abantika Deka, founder of Deka Events was a bona fide initiative meant to foster “camaraderie, sportsmanship and goodwill” within the legal fraternity. However, the content claiming that the CJI and over 100 sitting judges had travelled to London at public expense to participate in the tournament “were factually incorrect, malicious and motivated, and were calculated to scandalise and lower the dignity” of the judges. BAI also submitted that the content formed a “part of a concerted and politically motivated campaign and attack against the integrity of the Judiciary.”
Among the materials sought to be removed there were two YouTube videos by the channel @thepublicindia, reports by The Print, National Herald, and The Tribune, and three posts on X by individual handles (@priyankac19, @bismil_prasad, @GolfVictor007).
A particular emphasis was put on the formal statement issued by the All India Lawyers Union (‘AILU’) on June 11 which had described the event as a “vulgar display of inappropriate and objectionable collaboration” and characterised judicial participation as a “violent negation” of the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, 2002.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta along with the Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma similarly clarified that neither the CJI nor the Law Minister had attended the championship. The Order notes that only two judges from the Allahabad High Court “had visited London in their personal capacity.”
The High Court held the claims to be “ex-facie false, malicious and derogatory” and directed the Union Government to issue a notification under the IT Act, 2000, requiring all intermediaries to take down the specified URLs within 24 hours.
What did the Court say?
The High Court accepted the petitioner’s narrative in substantial part.
It held the claims to be “ex-facie false, malicious and derogatory to the Judiciary, the Executive and the sport of Badminton” and directed the Union Government to issue a notification under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (‘IT Act’), requiring all intermediaries to take down the specified URLs within 24 hours.
Recipients were also directed to preserve and furnish subscriber information (names, addresses, contact details, IP logs, bank details) of uploaders within a week. A compliance status report was directed within three weeks, with the matter listed next on July 17.
The Order reads:
“The Impugned Content does not merely amount to criticism, comment or fair reportage, but appears to be founded on demonstrably incorrect factual assertions, including the circulation of photographs unrelated to the Event and the attribution of participation to persons who, on the material placed before this Court, were not present at the Event. The dissemination of such false and misleading information, particularly when directed against Constitutional Courts, has the potential to cause serious and irreversible injury to public confidence in the justice delivery system.”
It is true, on the material before the High Court, that photographs from the November 2025 Thyagaraj Stadium tournament were recirculated as if they depicted the London event. This did create a false impression that sitting judges and Union Ministers had travelled abroad at public expense for a recreational tournament. Misinformation of this kind has the potential to taint public perception of the judiciary. However, at the same time, not every actor named in the order appears to have acted in mala fide intention.
Some media reports which were ordered to be removed, for instance, appear to have included the very fact-checks and statements from the Ministry that the petitioners rely on and were found missing in the public discourse. Besides, criticism or skepticism about the possibility of sitting judges participating in a recreational event abroad along with the executive, especially when austerity measures are exhorted by the prime minister, is not an “attack against the integrity of the Judiciary.” It may in fact be the complete opposite.
Case: Badminton Association of India v. Union of India W.P.(C) 8284/2026 & CM No. 39105/2026