Delhi HC Slams Richa Over ‘Digital Vigilantism’

The Delhi High Court has pulled up actress Richa Chadha for spreading unverified accusations of sexual harassment made by a woman on a Delhi-Mumbai IndiGo flight against a co-passenger.

Reportedly, on March 11, a woman journalist accused a man sitting next to her on the flight of inappropriate physical contact. After the flight landed, the journalist posted the allegation on her X handle, naming the man. She shared his photograph and professional details as well. The post soon gained traction and many news outlets carried reports of the incident. Richa Chadha reposted the allegations with the comment ‘Make him famous.’ The accused man, who claimed he was asleep throughout the flight, recalled the 2017 incident when former actress Zaira Wasim made a similar charge against a man who was subsequently jailed and filed a defamation case against Chadha for spreading “false allegations.”

Taking up the case, the Court said, “The endorsement of an unverified allegation, accompanied by the instigatory text ‘Make him famous’, transcends mere free expression and acts as a catalyst for public shaming and digital vigilantism. A public figure bears a legal and moral responsibility to verify the facts before leveraging her platform.”

Actor-singer Karan Oberoi, who was jailed on what turned out to be false charges of rape, says, “There are thousands of lives being destroyed by this kind of legal terrorism. No one should be thrown into jail by any vindictive woman,” Karan argues. “The only way correction can happen is by right balance based on truth,” he says, adding, “in the name of women empowerment, if we give absolute power to one gender, then that power can and will be misused.”

Making a case against biased conclusions, the actor says, “It can cost someone his life! It almost cost me mine. It has taken me months and years to heal. Don’t reduce a man to statistics even if the percentage of wronged men is minuscule. Any movement, be it MeToo or MenToo, shouldn’t be about optics but the ultimate truth for either of the genders.”