The Delhi High Court on Tuesday concluded proceedings in a defamation lawsuit filed by Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) officer Anjali Birla—daughter of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla—against alleged objectionable content posted on social media.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed a decree in Anjali Birla’s favour in the civil suit, which named X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google, and unidentified individuals (John Does) as defendants.

Birla had approached the court seeking directions for the removal of social media posts alleging that she had cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination and secured a position as an IAS officer solely due to her father’s political influence.

Her counsel clarified that Birla appeared for the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) in 2019, was selected in the consolidated reserve list, and subsequently joined the Indian Railways as an IRPS officer.

In an interim order issued in July last year, the court had directed X Corp and Google to take down the allegedly defamatory content. It also restrained unknown individuals from posting, sharing, or amplifying such material in any form, including tweets and retweets.

During Tuesday's hearing, X Corp informed the court that of the 16 posts flagged in the suit, 12 had been removed by their original posters, while access to the remaining four had been blocked in accordance with the court’s earlier order.

The High Court directed X Corp to now permanently remove the remaining four posts. It also stated that any future posts of a similar nature brought to the platform’s attention by Birla should be taken down as well.

In its earlier observations, the court had noted that the disputed posts did not seem to have been made after proper verification. “The plaintiff was appointed to the IRPS in 2021. The purpose and tone of these 2024 posts do not appear to be bonafide,” the court remarked.

Birla’s counsel argued that the tweets were defamatory on the face of it and had been made irresponsibly to damage her reputation. He added that similar allegations had circulated in 2021 but were dispelled following media investigations.

“This renewed campaign, resurfacing after three years, not only maligns her but also drags her family—particularly her father, a constitutional officeholder—into the controversy,” the counsel told the court.

He also linked the resurgence of the defamatory posts to the ongoing public debate around the NEET and UPSC examination processes. “I became an officer in 2021, but now these baseless allegations are resurfacing. My private pictures are being circulated online with claims that I am a model,” Birla’s counsel said, adding that she has also filed a complaint with the cybercrime department.