India TV editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma has filed a defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera over their tweets alleging that he used abusive language on air during a show on the day election results were announced, LiveLaw reported.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna reportedly reserved her order on Sharma’s interim relief application seeking a takedown of the tweets.

Appearing for Sharma on Friday, senior advocate Maninder Singh said the tweets were causing loss to the journalist’s reputation. He claimed that the Congress leaders shared an edited video clip from the show on social media to allege Sharma had abused Nayak on air. He claimed that there was no abuse in the actual footage from the show. He also said the Congress leaders posted the tweets six days after the incident and held a press conference.

Singh said Sharma is known for his civilised behaviour.

“The program is live telecast. They had no grievance till 10th night, for six days. Surely Defendants no. 4-6 (Congress leaders) are having friends, followers and family members who would have pointed out if they heard. They got into some design (against Sharma)…. They insert the abuse in their tweet,” he said, according to LiveLaw.

Sharma’s petition comes three days after Nayak filed a complaint at the Tughlak Road police station alleging offences under IPC sections 294 and 509 and claiming that Sharma had threatened legal action only to stop her from initiating criminal action over the incident.

Small teams can do great things. All it takes is a subscription. Subscribe now and power Newslaundry’s work.