IAS Anjali Birla, daughter of Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla has approached the Delhi High Court against viral social media posts on platform X.
The social media posts claimed that Birla cleared UPSC in her very first attempt due to her father's influence and not because of her own merit.
Anjali Birla, on the other hand, has denied the allegations and stated that these social media accounts are "being operated in a pre-planned conspiracy" with the intention of slandering both her and her father, as reported by Bar and Bench.
As per NewsX, Anjali Birla alleges in her defamation lawsuit that incorrect and deceptive material about her is being circulated on social media.
The suit further mentioned that there are obvious intentions to unlawfully harm the plaintiff's character and position by spreading false and unfounded charges in a defamatory manner.
The defendants in the case are Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Google Inc, X Corp (formerly known as Twitter) and John Doe (unknown person).
The high court, which said Birla has been able to make out a prima facie case in her favour, added the social media posts shall be removed by the intermediaries within 24 hours, and in case the plaintiff comes to know of any other similar posts, she shall inform X and Google about it.
"Having considered the contents of the suit and having heard the counsel for plaintiff, I am of the opinion that the plaintiff has been able to make out a prima facie case in her favour. Balance of convenience is also in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants," Justice Chawla said.
The court was of the opinion that the social media posts Birla had complained about did not appear to have been made after due verification.
"The plaintiff was appointed to IRPS in 2021. The purpose of posting the impugned social media posts in 2024 and in the language they have been posted do not appear to be bonafide," it noted.
Viral 'X' posts
According to social media posts, Anjali Birla passed the UPSC exam on her first attempt and did not participate in any exams or interviews, meaning that she was given the benefit of being her father's daughter.
Following the allegations, Anjali Birla claimed that she followed appropriate protocol and gave The Quint's staff a copy of her admit card. The Quint also examined her roll number in the 2019 merit lists, which revealed that she had indeed appeared and taken both the preliminary and main exams.
