Vijay Sherawat alleges that in his DECODE episode on DD News, Sudhir Chaudhary wrongly showed his image while attributing to him controversial slogans made during a Cockroach Janta Party protest.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued summons to DD News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary, his production house Essprit Productions and Prasar Bharati in a ₹5-crore defamation suit filed by activist Vijay Sherawat over a DECODE programme.
Sherawat has alleged that a broadcast on August 27 falsely portrayed him as the person who raised controversial slogans during a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest, including a call for Parliament to be demolished and India to be turned into “another Nepal”.
Justice Subramonium Prasad issued summons to the defendants on Monday and also sought their response to Sherawat’s plea for an interim injunction. The activist has asked the court to prevent the defendants from publishing, republishing or broadcasting the disputed allegations.
The injunction plea is scheduled to be taken up on September 22, when Chaudhary, Essprit Productions and DD News have been directed to be prepared to argue on the request for interim protection.
In his plaint, Sherawat has claimed that the programme displayed his photograph while attributing to him the slogans “Sansad bhawan ukhad diya jayega… Nepal bana diya jayega.” He has denied making the remarks.
Sherawat’s case is that the statements were made by another unidentified individual at a separate event and that the two men are visibly different. He has further alleged that the defendants failed to authenticate the footage before broadcasting it, did not seek his version and used a degraded video clip in which the faces were difficult to distinguish.
The Delhi High Court has issued notice to @sudhirchaudhary in a defamation suit filed by activist Vijay Sherawat for fake News run by Sudhir during his Doordarshan broadcast. The video is still not taken down by the Govt channel despite knowing it is fake.
Vijay Sherawat has… pic.twitter.com/9DxejehanL
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 7, 2026
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The activist has also alleged that the broadcast quickly circulated on social media platforms including X and Instagram, following which he began receiving threats. According to the suit, some of the messages threatened to shoot him, behead him or break his limbs, while one social-media user sought his residential address.
Sherawat said he subsequently posted a clarification on Instagram on July 31, 2026, denying that he was the person shown in the footage. He has argued that his account, which he said had around 4,224 followers, could not counter the reach of a national television broadcast that allegedly claimed 1.4 billion digital views.
The suit has been filed through advocates Pushp Sharma, Aditya Narayan Shukla, Jai Allagh and Prasoon Shekhar.
The allegations in the suit are yet to be adjudicated. The court’s issuance of summons does not amount to a finding of defamation against the defendants, who will have an opportunity to respond to Sherawat’s claims.
