Rohan Dua moves Delhi High Court to remove posts which called his questions to Manu Bhaker 'sexist'

Journalist Rohan Dua has filed a defamation case in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to take down various tweets criticising his interview with Olympian Manu Bhaker as being "sexist". .Justice Navin Chawla heard the matter briefly today and asked Dua's lawyers how the Court can conclude that Bhaker has no problem with the questions asked. Advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Dua and said that the questions were innocuous and that he merely asked what other journalists had also put to Bhaker.“This is in relation to an interview I did with Manu Bhaker. The interview had been approved by her team. This is a 12-minute interview. Of that, a 40 second clip is being circulated and wild allegations are being made. The question I asked is being asked by a lot of other journalists as well. I have complemented her and it was an innocuous comment,” Awasthi said. Justice Chawla responded that he does not know if Bhaker took offence to his comments or not. “Where is her approval to this [the interview]? How do I know she took offence to it or not? She is not even a party here. You get me her comment that she has no problem to this," the judge said.Awasthi said he will seek instruction on this aspect. The Court adjourned the case to September 2..Dua is the founder of a news platform called The New Indian. He interviewed Indian shooter Manu Bhaker after she won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.A short clip of the interview went viral on social media where Dua could be seen asking Bhaker about her and her mother’s photos with fellow Olympian Neeraj Chopra. "It may be a little trivial question and awkward to ask you but since, of course, the others have also asked so, I may ask you this question. Not that I mean to demean your medal or your efforts. But then, of course, the photos went viral with that of Neeraj. I don’t know if you see it as a compliment but, of course, you are one of the most attractive females, beautiful females, in Indian’s history of Olympics or this sport particularly. Are we right to assume that there was some sort of a chemistry or it was just that he [Neeraj Chopra] wanted to snub it as one off moment which someone clicked?” Dua posed the question. Bhaker replied that she has known Chopra for a long time and that he is one of the best athletes in the country who she likes to have a chat with. She further explained that her mother is also very attached with other athletes and treats everyone as her own child..A Twitter user named Roshan Rai [a defendant in Dua's suit] posted the video and criticised Dua for asking such a question."Manu Bhaker came back after winning a double bronze for India at the #Paris2024 Olympics at 22. But the reporter can't get over how beautiful and attractive she is. This is the level of Indian Journalism. What a shame," Rai wrote.Several other social media handles also posted the video terming the question sexist and calling the interviewer "unprofessional".In his defamation suit, Dua has argued that these statements not only attack his professional competence, but also spread a false narrative that he was being sexist and inappropriate, overshadowing Bhaker's achievements."These defamatory assertions, made without considering the full context of the interview, have unjustly damaged the Plaintiff No.2’s [Rohan Dua] reputation, and it is crucial to restrain these social media handles (Defendants No.1 to 13) from further posting or disseminating similar defamatory content," the suit stressed..The defamation suit has been filed through Advocates Mukesh Sharma, Lohitaksha Shukla, Chandni Shah and Dinesh Sharma.