The Delhi High Court granted a preliminary injunction to eminent historian Vikram Sampath in his case against Audrey Truschke and others who addressed a letter to the Royal Historical Society bringing false allegations of plagiarism against him. The court has held that till the next hearing, no defendants are allowed to make any statements and publish any content that is defamatory in this case.
“Till the next date of hearing, defendants 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 are restrained from publishing the letter or any other defamatory material with respect to the plaintiff in any forum or social media as well as any other online or offline platforms,’ the Court ordered.
Delhi High Court Restrains Historian Audrey Truschke & Others From Publishing Defamatory Material Against Vikram Sampath @vikramsampath,@AudreyTruschke,@nupur_0111 https://t.co/qlQK1CRXNH
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) February 18, 2022
The HC bench of Justice Amit Bansal has also issued summons to Audrey Truschke, and the others in the case.
On the 14th of February, historian Vikram Sampath had filed a complaint with the Delhi High Court against controversial author Audrey Truschke and others, including social media site Twitter, for defamatory comments and false charges made against him on the platform. This came a day after a letter was published on Twitter on Sunday accusing Sampath of ‘Plagiarism’ in his 2017 address on Indian revolutionary Veer Savarkar.
Plagiarism charges were levelled against Sampath in connection with a journal article and his two-volume biography of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. According to the lawsuit, controversial professor Audrey Truschke, and two others, Ananya Chakravarti and Rohit Chopra, addressed a letter to the Royal Historical Society in London on February 11 raising severe charges of plagiarism.
Additionally, the complaint alluded to several defamatory tweets made by Abhishek Baxi and Ashok Swain, stating that they were posted with the malicious intent of harming Sampath’s professional reputation not only at the national level but also globally.
The court further noted that due credits were given for works used and the continued sharing of the defamatory content was causing considerable damage to Vikram Sampath’s career.
However, the Court stated that it was not issuing any particular orders to Twitter at this time. The Court issued notices in the case and scheduled it for hearing on 1st April.
