New Delhi, Sept 24: The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked journalist Omar Rashid and one of the women lawyers named as a defendant in his defamation case to explore the possibility of resolving their dispute amicably.Justice Manoj Jain was hearing a suit filed by Rashid against two women lawyers over social media posts containing allegations of sexual harassment and other serious misconduct against him.
During the hearing, the court asked the parties to seek instructions on whether the dispute could be settled, noting that Rashid and the first defendant had previously been in a relationship.The court also issued notices to the two defendants and social media platforms on Rashid’s interim plea seeking restrictions on allegedly defamatory material. He has sought removal of existing posts and an order preventing the publication of similar content in the future.
The judge observed that some of the allegations were serious but clarified that the court was not making any final observations at this stage as the defendants’ written responses were yet to be filed.The case also involves allegations made on social media concerning sexual violence and an accusation relating to the alleged force-feeding of beef.
The allegations are disputed and have not been adjudicated by the court.During the proceedings, counsel for the first defendant requested restrictions on media coverage of the case. The court said it would consider the request at the next hearing and granted the defendant additional time to file her response to the main suit and the interim application.
The allegations had also led to proceedings before the National Human Rights Commission.
According to the case record cited in the proceedings, the matter was subsequently closed after police reported that there were no grounds to proceed with an investigation.The High Court has scheduled the next hearing for October 7.
