India, June 20 -- The Delhi high court on Friday indicated that the Union government was empowered to direct social media intermediaries to act against viral posts falsely claiming that Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, several Supreme Court judges and Union ministers had travelled to London earlier this month to participate in a badminton tournament at public expense.

Justice Tejas Karia made the oral observations while hearing a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which sought removal of social media content alleging that a large Indian delegation comprising senior judges and ministers had attended a badminton event in the United Kingdom. The court reserved its order after hearing submissions from the Centre an...