JUDGMENT

Sachin Datta, J. - IA.24255/2023 (on behalf of the plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rule 1 and 2 of CPC, 1908 seeking temporary injunction against the defendants on account of ex-facie false and per se defamatory statements made/endorsed/propagated/circulated against the plaintiff)

1. The instant suit has been filed by the plaintiff seeking the following prayers :-

"A. A decree and an order of permanent injunction restraining the Defendants and all others acting for and on their behalf from making, posting, publishing, uploading, writing, speaking, distributing and/or republishing any false defamatory content against the Plaintiff on any platform whether online or offline in any media, including electronic media and social media, or publishing in any manner or form any content and/or material which is defamatory about the Plaintiff which can bring disrepute and tarnish Plaintiff's goodwill and reputation;

B. An order against the Defendants and all others acting for and on their behalf to remove/withdraw all the defamatory and scurrilous content posted, published, uploaded, written or spoken by them about the Plaintiff which has brought disrepute and tarnish Plaintiff's goodwill and reputation from all platforms whether online or offline;

C. A decree and an order directing Defendant No. 1 and 2 to make and publish a retraction and an apology to the Plaintiff in three English newspapers, three Hindi newspapers and three Bengali newspapers for the false and defamatory statements / allegations made by Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 against the Plaintiff;

D. Defendant No. 2 may be ordered by a decree of mandatory injunction to withdraw the Letter dated 14 October 2023 issued by Defendant No. 2 to Defendant No. 1;

E. The Defendant be directed to pay damages suffered by the Plaintiff, that shall be quantified at a later stage on account of the defamatory, derogatory and baseless statements made by Defendant No. 1 and 2;

F. Cost of the suit be awarded to the Plaintiffs; and

G. Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court thinks fit and proper in the circumstances of the case is allowed in favour of the Plaintiffs and against the Defendants."

2. The prayers in the instant application are as under :-

"a . An order of ex-parte ad-interim injunction restraining the Defendants and all others acting for and on their behalf from making, posting, publishing, uploading, distributing and/or republishing any false and defamatory content as mentioned in the accompanying suit and the application against the Plaintiff on any platform whether online or offline which results which can bring disrepute and tarnish the to the Plaintiff's goodwill and reputation;

b. Pass an ex parte ad-interim injunction against Defendant No. 2 by way of a decree of mandatory injunction to withdraw the Letter dated 14 October 2023 issued by Defendant No. 2 to Defendant No. 1;

c. Pass an ex parte ad-interim injunction in favour of the Plaintiff and against the Defendant no. 1 and 2, directing to provide a written apology for the false and defamatory content published, propagated, shared and circulated by them and also publish their written apology in the public domain;

d. Any other/directions/ reliefs which this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case may also be granted in favour of the Plaintiff and against the Defendant."

3. The suit is predicated on the averment that the defendants are guilty of defaming the plaintiff on account of (i) making false and defamatory statements which impinge upon the plaintiff's reputation; (ii) the said statements specifically refer to and make imputations against the plaintiff; (iii) publishing of the said defamatory statements.

4. The plaintiff is stated to be a member of Lok Sabha elected from the constituency of Krishnanagar, West Bengal in 2019. The plaintiff claims to be a prominent and well respected politician holding an unblemished, untarnished and impeccable reputation of being an honest and upright publi