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Showing contexts for: punctuations in Tv Today Network Limited vs News Laundry Media Private Limited And ... on 20 March, 2026Matching Fragments
19. Regarding commercial disparagement, Mr. Baruah broadly submitted the following:
i. The Respondent No.1 has engaged in commercially disparaging the products of the Plaintiff by making disparaging remarks such as "Damn this is so bad, Gold Standard. Shit Standard" and calling the Plaintiff's reporters "Shit Reporters"; "Your punctuation is as bad as your journalism". Additionally, the Plaintiff's anchors are described as "high on weed or opium"
80. We shall now turn to the Defendants' contentions advanced before this Court.
81. The Defendants have argued that their main objective was to provide informative and socially beneficial content, and that there was no malicious intent behind their statements. However, we cannot accept this defence. Statements such as "shit playing", "shit reporters", "shit show", "high on weed or opium", and "your punctuation is as bad as your journalism" clearly do not qualify as socially beneficial content. These remarks, rather than contributing to public discourse, serve to disparage and insult the Plaintiff and its journalists.
93. Thus, in our view, a prima facie is made out in the Plaintiff's favour, only with respect to the defamatory and disparaging statements or remarks made by the Defendants, such as "shit playing", "shit reporters", "shit show", "high on weed or opium", and "Your punctuation is as bad as your journalism". Given the serious nature of these statements and their potential to cause lasting harm to the Plaintiff's reputation, we find that the balance of convenience tilts in favour of the Plaintiff. Irreparable harm is likely to result if these statements are not taken down.
98. For the reasons recorded hereinabove, we partly allow the appeal to the limited extent that the statements or remarks identified by the learned Single Judge as constituting commercial disparagement should be removed. The statements are ex-facie disparaging, and their continued availability online would harm the Plaintiff's reputation.
99. The Respondents are directed to immediately remove the remarks or statements "shit reporters", "shit show", "high on weed or opium", and "Your punctuation is as bad as your journalism" from the impugned video and remove them from their respective social media platforms, handles, and websites until the final disposal of the underlying suit.