A few weeks ago, Richa Chadha, who is known for being vocal on social media about socio-political issues, reposted an unverified post that accused a man of sexual misconduct. During the court hearing of the case that was held recently, the Delhi High Court reprimanded the actor for ‘publicly shaming’ a person without due evidence.

Last month, a journalist took to her X account to share an incident where she alleged a fellow passenger of inappropriate behaviour during a flight from Delhi to Mumbai. In her post, the journalist included the man’s name and oprofession, also sharing his photograph. As the post went viral online, one of the many to repost the post was Richa Chadha, who reposted the post with the caption, “make him famous."

However, the man denied the claims and decided to filed a defamation suit against the said journalist, Richa Chadha and other media portals for misreporting the case without due evidence.

While Richa had deleted the post, she was questioned nonetheless for amplifying an unverified allegation. During the case hearing by Justice Vikas Mahajan, he observed, "The Court is prima facie of the view that endorsement of unverified allegations has inflicted immediate, exponential, and incalculable harm on the plaintiff's reputation," also noting that Richa’s ‘make him famous’ comment breached the bounds of free speech, fuelling public shaming and digital vigilantism. 

Additionally, the Masaan actor was warned against amplifying any similar incidents without due evidence in the future.