The Court examined all of the 17 tweets posted by Kumar in 2022 that Balaji had claimed were defamatory. It also went through the contested Youtube videos posted by Kumar.
It concluded that of these, six tweets were “per se defamatory,” while the rest pertained strictly to allegations on the Minister’s public functions and were based on published news reports, statistics etc. The six defamatory tweets, the High Court said, had been made with complete disregard for truth.
“In my view, the contours of ‘reckless disregard for the truth’ would encompass all defamatory statements made without being concerned as to whether such statements are true or false, such as where such statements were made without any verification,” Justice Ramamoorthy said.
He directed Kumar to delete the six tweets and one defamatory Youtube video.
The Court further said that while it was not possible to definitely determine actual malice at an interlocutory stage, the said posts were likely to cause “significant damage” to Balaji’s reputation until final disposal of the defamation suit filed him.
Senior Counsel P Wilson and SM Krishnan, and advocate Richardson Wilson appeared for Balaji.
Senior Counsel Yashod Vardhan appeared for Kumar.
Source: Barandbench
