A Delhi court has summoned Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Pawan Khera, and Jairam Ramesh in response to a criminal defamation and forgery complaint filed by journalist Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV. The summons, issued on Tuesday, requires the Congress leaders to appear in court on July 27, 2026, to respond to charges under Sections 465 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document or electronic record), 499, and 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The case stems from allegations made by Ragini Nayak in June 2024, where she accused Rajat Sharma of using derogatory language against her during a live television debate. Sharma contends that these allegations are false and based on a tampered video with superimposed captions that were not part of the original broadcast. He alleges that Nayak circulated the manipulated video on social media platform X, and that Khera and Ramesh further amplified it, leading to reputational harm and personal distress.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Devanshi Janmeja of Saket Court stated that there are sufficient grounds to summon the accused. The court noted that forensic analysis indicated visible post-production alterations to the videos uploaded by the accused, including added titles and captions. Witnesses present during the live broadcast testified that Sharma did not use any abusive or objectionable language.

The court emphasized that Sharma had prima facie demonstrated that the accused made publications alleging he used objectionable language against Nayak, a spokesperson for the Congress party. This, the court said, led to Sharma being perceived as a male chauvinist and misogynist, resulting in a backlash on social media. The court found that this backlash established that Sharma's reputation had suffered.

In a related civil suit, the Delhi High Court had previously found no prima facie evidence of abusive language and directed the removal of the impugned social media posts. The current summons indicates that the criminal proceedings will move forward, with the three Congress leaders required to answer the charges against them.