The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to entertain an activist’s appeal challenging a takedown order over social media posts linking Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s daughter to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, directing him to pursue relief before the single judge who passed the interim order.

A bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Renu Bhatnagar asked the single judge to decide, at the earliest, whether the interim order should continue or be vacated. It also granted appellant Kunal Shukla a week to file his reply to Himayani Puri’s injunction plea.

"Let the matter be placed before the learned single judge on April 23. The single judge will proceed and decide the injunction application or vacation of stay application finally after hearing the parties as expeditiously as possible uninfluenced by any of the observations," the court said.

Shukla, in his appeal, contended that the March 17 order amounted to a blanket gag, restraining him from publishing or circulating the content without adequate notice or time to respond. The appeal said his posts contained “interrogative content” based on publicly available material, including international reports, and raised issues of public importance.

"What was the hurry in not giving me two days over content published in February," senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Shukla, argued during the hearing. He further submitted that the single judge treated Puri’s claims as “gospel truth” while listing the matter for August.

Opposing the appeal, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Puri, defended the interim order. After hearing both sides, the bench indicated it would advance the hearing date and allow time for Shukla’s reply, a suggestion accepted by the appellant.

Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, also appearing for Shukla, urged the court to expedite the trial. The bench, however, declined, stating, "We will keep our hands off about any observation, about anything in this matter." "You go and contest everything there," the bench said.

In her suit seeking Rs 10 crore in damages and directions to restrain multiple entities from circulating defamatory material, Himayani Puri alleged a coordinated online campaign linking her to Epstein and his crimes. She also sought an unconditional apology and retraction.

"Commencing on or around 22.02.2026, a series of false, misleading and defamatory posts, articles, videos and digital material were published, disseminated and amplified across social media and intermediary platforms including inter alia X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, digital news portals and other web-based publications," the plea said.

Puri maintained that she is an accomplished finance and investment professional and is being targeted solely due to her parentage. Her lawsuit alleged that the defendants spread "baseless imputations" claiming she had direct or indirect links with Epstein.

The allegations are entirely false, malicious and devoid of factual foundation, the plea said.

The “Epstein files” refer to extensive records from investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, emails and recordings, which have drawn global attention since Epstein’s death in custody in 2019.