THE BADMINTON ASSOCIATION OF INDIA (‘BAI’) approached the Delhi High Court today seeking urgent action against the circulation of, what it termed as ‘false and misleading content’ on social media platforms and digital news portals, which claimed that around seventy-five judges of the Supreme Court and various High Courts, along with Union ministers including the Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, had travelled to London to participate in a badminton tournament at the taxpayers’ expense.
The matter was mentioned before Justice Tejas Karia by Senior Advocate Apoorv Kurup, counsel for the petitioner, BAI, who sought urgent listing on the ground that the fake content was spreading virally and causing reputational harm to the judiciary as well as to the sport of badminton itself. During the hearings, Justice Karia mulled over the power of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to issue directions against intermediaries to disclose basic subscriber information regarding those who had spread the news.
The petition seeks the takedown of certain YouTube videos, online news portal reports, and posts on X. It also seeks directions to identify the originators of the allegedly false content, initiate proceedings against them, and permanently remove such material from digital platforms. The BAI has also sought guidelines to ensure prompt action against misinformation concerning the judiciary.
Background
The Second International Bar and Bench Badminton Championship was held at Dormer’s Wells Leisure Centre in Southall, United Kingdom, and was attended by senior advocates and as reported by certain media platforms, by judges of the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. The event was hosted by Solicitor Advocate Harjot Singh, Director of Twinwood Law Practice, London, and former international badminton player Abantika Deka, and was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Questions soon emerged about the appropriateness of judges attending a privately organised, corporate-sponsored event. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who was in London at the time on an official visit, primarily, for the International Conference on Arbitrating Indo-U.K. Commercial Disputes and who also met the Chief Justice of England and Wales, distanced himself from the tournament. On June 12, his Personal Secretary issued an explicit clarification that he did not attend the sporting event.
The Ministry of Law and Justice in a statement released on X noted that the claim was “factually incorrect and misleading,” and that Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had not travelled to London at all, and was instead in Bikaner, Rajasthan on June 7.
The Press Information Bureau’s fact-check unit clarified that the photographs circulating online were actually taken during the All India Judges’ Badminton Championship held at Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi in November 2025.
Multiple members of the judiciary, while speaking to National Herald, indicated that only two judges had attended the London event, both from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court and both avid badminton players.
What transpired during the hearing
In the days following the June 7 event, social media and YouTube channels ran with a dramatically inflated version of events. Senior Advocate Apoorv Kurup pointed the Court’s attention to videos that carried the headlines such as, “The hidden truth behind London badminton, CJI & Law Minister|Live,” and others which asked, “Why are 75 judges on a vacation with the Union Law Minister.”
He also referred to the All India Lawyers Union’s (‘AILU’) formal press release at length before the Court, which was issued on June 11. The statement described the event as “corporate sponsored badminton diplomacy” and called the participation of constitutional court judges and the law minister a “vulgar display of inappropriate and objectionable collaboration,” alleging it would amount to “compromising of the principles of independence of judiciary.”
“What is most important to me,” Kurup told the court, “is that it is disparaging the judiciary. As an officer of the court, that is what is most concerning. But it’s also making the sport a victim by ridiculing the sport itself.”
The Court was taken through a fact-check document, with Kurup noting that photographs from the Delhi event were being passed off as evidence of a London junket in June 2026.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asserted that CJI Surya Kant had not participated in any badminton, or similar sporting event in London, “The honourable Chief Justice of India was on an official visit to London, where his lordship met the honourable Chief Justice of England and Wales and also attended an official function in that court. The honourable Chief Justice of India also addressed some lawyers’ functions concerning arbitration law.”
“The printed word, that’s the problem,” Mehta noted, referring to the tendency of readers to treat online content as established fact. “And the anonymity which is attached with this medium creates more serious concern.”
Kurup urged the High Court to consider issuing directions not just for takedowns but for structural guidelines, noting that “some kind of guidelines need to be issued,” otherwise this is “an unfortunate event which is going to be repeated.”
The Solicitor General noted that the fake news was “multiplying in numbers” despite the fact-check having already been published. “Everywhere it is being peddled that the government went to London with a contingent of seventy-five honourable judges on a pleasure trip,” he said.
Justice Karia noted that the intermediary platforms can be directed to disclose basic subscriber information about all the users to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Since the offending channels and portals qualify as intermediaries under the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Court observed, the Ministry is empowered to issue directions to that effect.
A detailed order is expected to be uploaded on the Court’s website shortly. This report shall be updated when the order is out.
