March 10, 2026 : Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday recused herself from hearing a plea filed by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra challenging criminal defamation proceedings initiated against her by Zee Media. The Court directed that the case be listed before another bench next week and clarified that the interim relief granted earlier will continue until further orders.
The dispute dates back to a controversy over Moitra’s speech in Parliament in 2019 on the alleged rise of fascism in India. During a broadcast on Zee News, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary claimed that portions of Moitra’s speech had been copied from an article published on an American website.
Moitra denied the allegation and said that the references in her speech were based on material displayed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She also accused the news channel of misrepresenting her remarks.
Following the broadcast, Moitra filed a defamation complaint against the channel and Chaudhary. In response, Zee Media filed a separate criminal defamation case against Moitra after she allegedly referred to the channel as a “thief”.
When the matter came up for hearing, Justice Sharma observed that Chaudhary could be a concerned party in the case and therefore decided to step aside. The Court noted, “I think in this case also, Mr. Sudhir Chaudhary will be the concerned person. I think I shouldn’t deal with this.”
The judge then recused from the case and directed that it be placed before another bench, while allowing the existing interim protection to remain in force.
