W.P.(C) 8284/2026 $~SB-2 (Appellate Side) * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 8284/2026 & CM APPL. 39105/2026 BADMINTON ASSOCIATION OF INDIA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Senior Advocate with Mr. Rajat Nair, Mr. Dhruv Pnade and Mr. Divyansh Nigam, Advocates. versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Chetan Sharma, ASG with Ms. Avshreya Pratap Singh, Rudy, CGSC, Mr. Amit Gupta, Ms. Usha Jamnal, Ms. Nyasa Sharma, Mr. Ankit Khatri, Mr. R.V. Prabhat, Mr. Yash Wardhan Sharma, Mr. Shubham Sharma and Mr. Naman, Advocates for UoI. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA O R D E R % 17.07.2026 1. Vide the Order dated 19.06.2026 (“Order”) this Court had directed that: “10. This Court is, therefore, satisfied that strong case is made out for issuance of urgent directions in respect of the Impugned Content. Accordingly, the Respondents are directed to forthwith issue an appropriate Notification under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Rules framed thereunder or any other applicable law, in terms of the present Order, directing all concerned intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, significant social media intermediaries, search engines, web-hosting platforms, digital media platforms, internet service providers and other online service providers, to take down, remove, block, disable, de-index and restrict access to the Impugned Content, including fake and fabricated news, articles, videos and related material featuring or purporting to depict the This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/07/2026 at 12:02:29 W.P.(C) 8284/2026 alleged participation, association or involvement of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts, and Hon’ble Union Ministers in the 2nd International Bar & Bench Badminton Championship held in London on 07.06.2026, together with any identical, mirrored, modified, edited, clipped, reproduced, re-uploaded, derivative or substantially similar versions thereof, by specifying the URLs including the URLs contained in Annexure-A to this Order, within 24 hours of receipt of the Notification. 11. All the recipients of the Notification shall also preserve and furnish, in a password-protected document or sealed cover, the Basic Subscriber Information and other relevant information available in respect of the uploaders or account operators disseminating the Impugned Content, including name, address, contact details, e-mail addresses, bank details, IP logs and allied records, within one week of receipt of the Notification to the Respondents, who shall initiate appropriate legal action against them in accordance with law. 12. The Respondents shall also issue a Notification in terms of this Order to all uploaders, news portals, bloggers, account holders and other concerned persons, directing them to take down the Impugned Content and restraining them from uploading, publishing, hosting, communicating to the public, circulating, distributing, posting, tweeting, sharing, reproducing, transmitting or otherwise disseminating or making available, directly or indirectly, the Impugned Content or any identical, mirrored, modified, edited, clipped, reproduced, re-uploaded, derivative or substantially similar version thereof on any platform, website, social media account, channel, handle, application or medium whatsoever. 13. Members of the public are further restrained from uploading, publishing, circulating, sharing or otherwise disseminating the Impugned Content on any social media platform, search engine, web- hosting platform, digital media platform or other online media or platform. 14. The Respondents are directed to file a Status Report indicating compliance with the aforesaid directions within three weeks. 15. List for compliance on 17.07.2026.” This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/07/2026 at 12:02:29 W.P.(C) 8284/2026 2. Pursuant to the aforesaid directions contained in the Order, a Compliance Affidavit dated 16.07.2026 (“Compliance Affidavit”) on behalf of Respondent No. 2 was handed over during the course of the hearing. The same was directed to be taken on record. 3. As stated in the Compliance Affidavit, Respondent No. 2, in compliance with the Order, communicated the Order by email dated 20.06.2026 and by reminder email dated 22.06.2026 to all relevant Social Media Intermediaries for necessary compliance, directing them to take down the statements, articles, posts or publications in terms of the directions contained in the Order. 4. The Compliance Affidavit also annexes the communications received from the respective Social Media Intermediaries confirming compliance with the directions contained in the Order. It further states that Respondent No. 2 issued a Notification dated 20.06.2026 under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 read with Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”), for disabling the content specified in Annexure-A to the Order. 5. The Compliance Affidavit further records that Respondent No. 2 addressed emails dated 20.06.2026 to Respondent No. 1, being the Administrative Ministry for Print Media under Part III of the IT Rules, and to the Department of Telecommunication, for ensuring compliance with the directions contained in the Order by the Print Media. Pursuant thereto, and in compliance with the Order, Respondent No. 1 issued a Notification dated 22.06.2026 to various publishers/intermediaries requiring compliance with the directions contained in the Order. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/07/2026 at 12:02:29 W.P.(C) 8284/2026 6. The Compliance Affidavit further states that Respondent No. 2 has taken all necessary and reasonable steps within its statutory mandate and technical capacity to secure compliance with the directions contained in the Order. Accordingly, Respondent No. 2 has substantially complied with the said directions. 7. In view of the aforesaid, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submitted that the directions contained in the Order stand fully complied with, as is evident from the Compliance Affidavit, and that no further orders are required to be passed in the present Petition. Accordingly, learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioner prayed that the present Petition may be disposed of, with liberty to the Petitioner to file a fresh petition in case any further cause of action arises. 8. Having considered the submissions made in the Compliance Affidavit, which are also confirmed by the Petitioner, this Court is of the view that the directions contained in the Order have been duly complied with. Accordingly, the present Petition, along with the pending Application, stands disposed of, with liberty to the Petitioner to file a fresh petition in the event any further cause of action arises. TEJAS KARIA, J JULY 17, 2026 ‘AK’ This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/07/2026 at 12:02:29