The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of a Sakshi newspaper report linking Heritage Foods to the Tirupati laddu ghee controversy. The court's interim order in a defamation suit filed by Heritage Foods restrains further publication of such content.
The Delhi High Court has ordered the blocking and removal of a news report carried by a newspaper founded by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, which linked Heritage Foods to the Tirupati laddu controversy.
Court's Interim Order
Justice Mini Pushkarna directed Jagati Publications, which runs the Sakshi newspaper and Sakshi TV, to remove the impugned articles within 24 hours and restrained the defendants from publishing any similar allegedly defamatory content. Jagati Publications Limited, which operates Sakshi newspaper and Sakshi TV, is stated to have Y S Bharathi Reddy, wife of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, as its chairperson. The Court's interim order came in a defamation suit filed by Heritage Foods Limited against Jagati Publications Limited and others. Apart from directing the removal of the article dated February 14, 2026, from the website "www.sakshi.com", the Court also ordered that related reports aired on Sakshi TV and uploaded on online platforms, including YouTube, be taken down within 24 hours. The Court clarified that if the defendants failed to comply, intermediaries concerned would be required to remove or disable access to the content. Defendant No. 5 was also directed to block specified URLs. The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on April 6, 2026, and before the Court on July 9, 2026.
Details of the Defamation Suit
The Court was hearing a defamation case filed by Heritage Foods. According to the plaint, the company was founded in 1992 by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who resigned from the company in 1994. The suit stated that on February 14, 2026, Sakshi newspaper carried an article on the front page of its Delhi edition alleging that Heritage Foods, described as being owned by Chandrababu Naidu's family, maintained business relations with Bhole Baba Dairy, which has been accused of supplying adulterated ghee for the preparation of prasadam at Tirupati.
The plaintiffs contended that the article falsely linked Heritage Foods with Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Private Limited, which is an accused in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration case. It was argued that Heritage Foods has business dealings with a different entity, Bhole Baba Milk Food Industries (Dholpur) Private Limited, which is separate and has not been named in the FIR or chargesheets filed in connection with the alleged scam.
Appearing for the plaintiffs, Sandeep Sethi, Senior Advocate, and Anurag Ahluwalia, Senior Advocate, along with Sanjay Abbot, Arshdeep Singh, Nitesh Gupta, Ayush Agarwal, Sanjana Mishra, Krisna Gambhir, Shreya Sethi and Riya Kumar, Advocates, submitted that the publication was false, misleading and had caused serious reputational harm to the company.
On behalf of Defendant No. 6, appearance was entered by Amee Rana, Yash Karunakaran, Mr Tanuj Sharma, Tanvi Raina and Debditya Saha, Advocates.
Prima Facie Case Established
Observing that a prima facie case was made out and that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiffs, the Court granted interim protection and restrained further publication of similar allegedly defamatory content pending adjudication of the suit. (ANI)
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