New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday (May 29, 2026) pulled up social media influencer Shamita Yadav, who posts as “The.Ranting.Gola”, in a matter related to a defamation suit filed by BJP leader and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, Bar and Bench reports.Justice Mini Pushkarna ruled that “prejudice and injury shall be caused” to Bhatia if a particular tweet of RantingGola’s from December 2025 was “allowed to continue any further”, the legal news site reports. “It is directed that till the next date of hearing, the December tweet shall be removed by Defendant No 5 [Yadav] forthwith,” said the judge. She further directed the removal of the post from Instagram, X and other social media accounts, Live Law reports.Earlier during Friday’s hearing, Justice Pushkarna had remarked that Yadav had “not left a good impression on the court” and questioned her work: “…if you are a public person, such remarks leave very bad taste.”According to Bhatia, defamatory content was posted about him from The.Ranting.Gola handle. His plea, in which notice was issued in April as per Live Law, alleges she published objectionable content despite an earlier court order.“Who is Ranting Gola? Who is this person? Is she from Samajwadi Party?” the judge also asked.Appearing for Yadav, Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court Vrinda Grover said her client was “an independent creator” and not affiliated with any political party. “My Twitter handle says that I am a comedian,” Grover said, contending that the posts were satirical and fell within the protection of free expression.The hearing saw sharp exchanges between Bhatia, who appeared in person, and Grover, prompting the court to intervene and ask both sides to maintain decorum. Bhatia’s former political affiliation was with the Samajwadi Party and he is now a prominent BJP spokesperson.“Calling someone ‘dodo-bewakoof’ is defamatory. There is no sense of apology or regret. They say ‘nanga’ and ‘bhajpille’. This is defamatory and obnoxious,” Bhatia told the court. He contended that Yadav’s posts crossed the line from satire into abuse and defamation, Bar and Bench said.At one stage in today’s hearing, Justice Pushkarna asked whether Yadav did anything beyond posting online content. “Anyone who starts posting regularly becomes a social influencer?” she remarked.Bhatia took the judge through a series of posts, saying he would not read some of them aloud. “I am not reading it for a reason. Obnoxious,” he said, the legal news site said on its X handle.The judge then told Grover, “If the genders were swapped, you would be the first person to stand against it.” Grover responded that “dignity is not attached to any gender” and argued that the television clip of Bhatia from September 2025, which went viral and was widely mocked on social media, was still available online.Grover also said The.Ranting.Gola’s posts on social media were protected by an earlier Delhi High Court order in the case, and did not violate any existing injunction. She argued that a September 25, 2025 ruling restrained publication of content that was “explicit, obscene, or sexually suggestive” and did not impose a blanket ban on commentary.“There is no general restraint,” Grover said, adding that her later posts were identical to content the court had previously declined to remove.Bhatia argued that years spent building a legal reputation could be damaged by such posts. “A senior advocate works two decades to earn a reputation and you say such things…” he said.On September 25, 2025, Delhi High Court had directed deletion of posts related to Bhatia’s TV appearance that were obscene or sexually suggestive, but protected satire and humour from defamation to an extent, especially when it came to criticism of public figures, Bar & Bench reported at the time. Bhatia has alleged defamation against Yadav and several others and those cases are ongoing, as per LiveLaw.“Attacking the dignity of a person using obscene and sexually suggestive language under the guise of free speech cannot be permissible under any circumstances,” the court had said, directing removal of certatin posts.