A Delhi High Court bench on Wednesday asked the police and social media platform X to examine action against journalist Rana Ayyub over allegedly inflammatory posts she made between 2013 and 2017 concerning Hindu deities and Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, according to legal reports.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that the matter required urgent consideration and said the Delhi Police, the Union government and X would need to act in coordination. Notices were issued to Ayyub, X and the police, directing them to file responses by Thursday.
The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Amita Sachdeva, who has sought the removal of six posts by Ayyub.
During the hearing, the judge said action was necessary in view of what he termed “highly derogatory, inflammatory and communal” content, adding that the registration of a police complaint could be pursued under directions of a competent court.
Sachdeva had earlier moved a Delhi court in January 2025 seeking registration of a case against Ayyub. The court directed that a First Information Report be filed, following which the police registered an FIR the next day.
Ayyub has maintained that her posts do not violate any law and has described the complaint as an attempt to intimidate and silence her.
In her plea before the High Court, Sachdeva alleged that the posts insulted Hindu deities Sita and Ram, as well as Savarkar and Hindu nationalism, and could affect communal harmony.
She also said she had approached X Corp’s grievance appellate committee, which declined to take down the posts, stating that the matter was sub judice.