The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to grant interim protection to Raghav Chadha in his plea alleging misuse of his personality rights through social media posts, cartoons and online commentary linked to his recent political shift.

During the hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad orally observed that criticism, satire and political cartoons directed at public figures form part of democratic expression and cannot be restricted simply because they may appear uncomfortable or offensive.

The court noted that the material placed before it appeared to revolve around criticism of political actions rather than a direct violation of personality rights.

Raghav Chadha, who recently moved from the Aam Aadmi Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party, had approached the court alleging that manipulated visuals, memes and social media content were damaging his public image and falsely portraying his political transition.

Appearing on his behalf, Senior Advocate Rajeev Nayar argued that several online posts insinuated Chadha had changed political parties for financial benefits and personal gain.

However, the court orally remarked that the dispute appeared closer to defamation than personality rights infringement and indicated that the MP could seek remedies under defamation law if necessary.

The judge also referred to the long tradition of political satire in India, including the iconic work of celebrated cartoonist R. K. Laxman, while emphasising the importance of criticism and humour in political discourse.

Social media giant Meta opposed the plea during the hearing and argued that many of the posts cited in the petition were either newspaper reports, commentary or harmless social media content.

The court has now reserved its order in the matter while allowing Chadha to amend his petition to include defamation-related claims.

The case has drawn wider attention amid increasing legal disputes involving social media speech, political satire, artificial intelligence-generated content and online reputation management involving public figures.