NEW DELHI: People in public life such as politicians, even judges, have to be thick-skinned in this age of social media, the Delhi high court on Wednesday said on Wednesday as the bench started hearing East Delhi member of Parliament Gautam Gambhir’s defamation suit against a Hindi newspaper.
Justice Chandra Dhari Singh declined Gambhir’s interim request for an interim injunction, saying it could not issue a blanket order and issued notices to the editor and reporters of the newspaper, Punjab Kesari, to respond to the suit.
Gautam Gambhir has sought ₹2 crore in damages from the newspaper - the money will go to charity - for a string of articles that he said, attempted to create a false and deeply defamatory narrative about his work and his bonafide as a parliamentarian and painted him “as a casteist person and a high-nosed politician”.
Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, who heard the former cricketer’s lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai flag some of the articles, said: “If the reporter has gone to the area and found such comments being made then... You are a public servant, an elected person, you need not be so sensitive.....Any public person should be thick-skinned. With this social media and all, even judges have to be thick-skinned,” justice Singh said
Gambir’s suit accused the newspaper’s editor and correspondents of abusing their journalistic freedom by systematically publishing malicious and libellous articles to target him. One report even went on to compare him with the mythical demon Bhasmasur, it was contended.
{{/usCountry}}Gambir’s suit accused the newspaper’s editor and correspondents of abusing their journalistic freedom by systematically publishing malicious and libellous articles to target him. One report even went on to compare him with the mythical demon Bhasmasur, it was contended.
{{/usCountry}}Justice Singh remarked that some of the words used for Gambhir were not appropriate. “Does this person live in your constituency? If he is a voter for you, then he can say things like that. This is on the lighter side... If you read all the articles, it is my prima facie opinion that the reporter is behind this person. Some of the words and sentences that he has used are not proper for your paper, “ the judge said.
Senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, who appeared for the newspaper, said he may not personally like some of the words used by the paper but asked if Gautam Gambhir’s plea for injunction implied that the newspaper should not report on him unless Gambhir likes it.
The court said it was satisfied that this matter requires consideration and issued notice. The case will next come up for a hearing in October.