Journalist Tavleen Singh has withdrawn the civil defamation suit filed by her against social media user Shashank Singh alias @pokershash for a satirical tweet posted by him on Twitter.
The District and Sessions court in New Delhi dismissed the case against Shashank as Tavleen Singh took the case back.
Twitter user says resourceful people should not use their privilege to threaten people
Speaking to OpIndia, Shashank said that when Tavleen threatened him with a defamation suit, he thought she was simply pressuring him to remove the tweet. Later, he came to know that Tavleen had indeed filed a suit against him for a satirical tweet. Though, he added that he hadn’t received any summons till date.
Shashank welcomed Tavleen’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit and opined that people with financial resources and knowledge of the law should not exploit it to threaten common citizens. He added that courts are already hard-pressed with work and cases like this which are filed only to burnish one’s ego should be avoided.
Tavleen Singh filed a defamation suit against @Pokershash for his satirical tweet
After waxing eloquent on the need for absolute freedom of speech and holding forth on fostering an environment of tolerance in the country, Tavleen Singh had in August 2020 filed a civil defamation suit against Shashank alias @Pokershash for lampooning her on Twitter. Singh had filed a lawsuit against @pokershash for a satirical tweet in which he jocularly alleged that Tavleen had a meeting with others to defend controversial hate-speech peddler Sharjeel Imam.
“Sources of NDTV told me that there was a meeting between @zafarsareshwala, @tavleen_singh and @Altnews to defend Sharjeel Imam. In which they have decided that Imam was not saying ‘Assam ko India se kaat denge’ but he was saying ‘Aaj sham ko nadia se paar dekhenge’,” the Twitter user @pokershash had manifestly posted in a lighter vein to mock the support Imam had been receiving from several personalities. The Twitter user @pokerhash was later suspended by Twitter.
However, this evidently satirical tweet grated on the nerves of Tavleen Singh and she instantly blasted out at @pokershash, threatening him to remove the tweet or face legal consequences. Subsequently, Singh approached the Patiala House Court and filed a defamation suit against Shashank Singh.
