Delhi High Court orders removal of social media posts questioning UPSC qualification of Lok Sabha Speaker's daughter

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Google and X (formerly Twitter) to take down social media posts alleging that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter Anjali Birla cleared Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams in her very first attempt because of her father's influence..Justice Navin Chawla passed the interim order today and directed X (Twitter) and Google to remove the posts within 24 hours.The Court also restrained unknown persons (John Doe) defendants from making defamatory allegations against Birla in relation to the issue.The Court said that Birla has been able to make out a prima facie case that the posts in question are defamatory. Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar appeared for Birla and argued that similar allegation had earlier surfaced in the year 2021 but after fact-checks by news publications revealing Birla to be an IRPS officer, the controversy died down.“I became an officer in the year 2021 but now suddenly these things have come up again because of the NEET and UPSC exams controversy. It [the social media posts) make it feel as we are all part of this… My private pictures are being posted online saying I am a model,” Nayar argued.Birla filed the defamation case through advocates Sanyam Khetarpal and Aditya Manubarwala. .Lok Sabha Speaker's daughter Anjali Birla moves Delhi High Court against social media posts on her UPSC qualification.Claims that Anjali Birla became an IAS officer because of her father's "powerful position" went viral on social media soon after Om Birla's election as Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the eruption of NEET UG paper leak controversy. Several social media posts alleged that Anjali Birla is a model by profession and it was because of her father's "powerful position" that she cleared the UPSC exams in her very first attempt. However, Anjali Birla rubbished the claims and said that these social media handles were "being operated in a pre-planned conspiracy" and guided by the motive of defaming her and her father. In her plea, Birla made X (Twitter), Google and John Doe (unknown people) party to her suit and sought take down of those posts. She provided details of 16 X accounts against whom relief was sought including the parody account of YouTuber Dhruv Rathee. .Contrary to the claims made in the social media posts, Birla is not in the IAS but is an IRPS officer. She appeared for the UPSC exams in 2019 and joined the commission in April 2021. She completed her compulsory training last year.