Overview
- Justice Mini Pushkarna directed Congress, AAP and others to remove posts within 24 hours and restrained any further circulation, with platforms to take down content if defendants do not comply, and set May 4 for the next hearing.
- The interim order covers several individuals and entities including actor Urmila Sanawar and former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, whose names surfaced in the viral clips.
- Gautam’s defamation suit seeks about Rs 2 crore in damages and maintains there is no investigative or judicial reference linking him to the 2022 murder.
- Dehradun police registered an FIR on Gautam’s complaint against Congress, AAP, UKD, Rathore and Sanawar under BNS defamation and IT Act provisions over the alleged fabrication and circulation of the recordings.
- Uttarakhand authorities have formed an SIT and initiated FSL testing to verify the audio as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami cites travel records placing Gautam outside the state during the relevant period while opposition parties continue to demand a CBI probe.