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In March 2024, the Supreme Court warned that an interim injunction against journalism can become a “death sentence.” In fact, the court’s judgment in “Bloomberg Television Production Services India Pvt Ltd v. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd” held as much. Two years later, the Delhi high court appears to have imposed that restraint again, in “Badminton Association of India v Union of India.”

On June 19, a bench of Justice Tejas Karia issued the order, directing the Union government to secure removal of reports, videos and posts about the Second International Bar and Bench Badminton Championship held in London on June 7. The order goes beyond the named URLs and covers every “identical, mirrored, modified, edited, clipped, reproduced, re-uploaded, derivative or substantially similar” version of the material. Intermediaries must take down, block, de-index and restrict access within 24 hours of the government notification.

Furthermore, portals, bloggers, account holders and uploaders may not republish or circulate the content; nor may the public. Intermediaries must also surrender the names, addresses, contact details, emails, bank details and internet protocol (IP) logs of the uploaders to facilitate legal action.

The order flowed from an Article 226 petition filed by the Badminton Association of India. The newspapers, journalists, YouTube channels, social media users and the All India Lawyers Union whose work was condemned were not parties and neither were they heard before the court declared the material “ex facie false, malicious and derogatory.”

An ex parte injunction is not unlawful in itself. Courts may issue urgent interim orders without first hearing the opposing party. However, when an order restrains journalism and public debate, the Supreme Court demands an exceptionally strong justification, a criterion the badminton order did not fulfil. Regardless, all listed material was removed at once, without hearing testimonies from a single publisher.

What the government actually fact-checked

Misinformation was certainly in circulation.

On June 10, the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check Unit rejected claims that Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal had flown to London for a badminton event with the judges. The viral photographs, it said, came from an All India Judges’ Badminton Championship at Delhi’s Thyagaraj Stadium in November 2025. The post denied the rumour that the ministers travelled to London for the championship. 

The Ministry of Law and Justice then issued its own statement, rejecting reports that Meghwal travelled with 75 Supreme Court and high court judges to the tournament. The statement said he was in Bikaner on the relevant date, corroborating PIB’s claim that old Delhi photos were being re-circulated and wrongly attributed to the London championship.

Statement on false and misleading claims being circulated on various media and digital platforms. pic.twitter.com/I2D5bFbIZa — Ministry of Law and Justice (@MLJ_GoI) June 11, 2026

Statement on false and misleading claims being circulated on various media and digital platforms. pic.twitter.com/I2D5bFbIZa

— Ministry of Law and Justice (@MLJ_GoI) June 11, 2026

Although these corrections were necessary, their reach was limited. The fact-check failed to establish that every report questioning the legitimacy of the event was false. 

Even as the Union government informed the court that two Allahabad high court judges had travelled to London in their personal capacity, a contemporaneous report, citing the event at Dormers Wells Leisure Centre in Southall on June 7, listed Justice Tej Pratap Tiwari and Justice Avnish Saxena among the winners. The same two judges were named as participants by........

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