Justice Singh examined the article in question and said that its contents are defamatory on the face of it.
It takes years to build a reputation, and therefore, the right to reputation has been recognized as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Bench observed.
“No doubt, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution provides the right of freedom of speech and expression to all persons, however, it cannot be overlooked that the same is subject to restrictions under Article 19(2) which includes defamation. The right to freedom of speech and expression cannot be taken as an unfettered right so as to defame and tarnish the reputation of another person. It has been repeatedly held by Courts that fundamental right to freedom of speech has to be counterbalanced with the right of reputation of an individual.”
The Court, therefore, passed an ex parte ad-interim injunction against the two platforms.
The names of the plaintiff as well as the school he was associated with were not revealed in the order for the sake of anonymity and to preserve their reputation.
Source: Barandbench
