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NEW DELHI: In the age of social media, desecration of reputation of a public figure has become a child’s play, Delhi high court observed on Tuesday, while ordering a self-styled activist to remove offensive tweets from his handle.
The court warned that due diligence or at least a “preliminary inquiry into facts” was necessary before anyone posts “messages on a social media platform, made accessible to all members of the public, against any person.”
Justice C Hari Shankar’s observations came while directing Saket Gokhale to immediately delete alleged defamatory tweets against former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri. The court also restrained him from posting any more “scandalous” tweets against her and her husband, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Referring to the ease with which anyone could be vilified online, the court noted, “All that is needed is the opening of a social media account and, thereafter, posting of messages. Thousands of responses are received and, in the process, the reputation of the man, who is targeted, becomes mud.”
It underlined that the “reputations, nourished and nurtured over years of selfless service and toil, may crumble in an instant; one thoughtless barb is sufficient.”
The court also rejected Gokhale’s claim that a person had no responsibility to reach out to the subject or verify facts before posting it on social media. “Such a submission, if accepted, would place the reputation of every citizen in serious jeopardy, and open to ransom at the hands of every social media vigilante, some of whose intentions may be less than honourable. This is even more so in the case of public figures, whose actions are, as a matter of course, subjected to intensive and invasive dissection by all members of the public,” the court said.
It said, if Gokhale failed to delete the tweets within 24 hours, Twitter should take them down. Justice Shankar noted that, “Social media, for all its unquestionable and undeniable benefits, as well as its indispensability in modern times, comes with its own sordid sequelae.”
It was hearing a defamation suit filed by Puri, a former assistant secretary-general at the United Nations, against whom Gokhale tweeted on June 13 and 26 and referred to certain property purchased by her in Switzerland.
In her suit Lakshmi Puri had sought Rs 5 crore in damages from Gokhale and an immediate removal of the tweets, contending that these were false and factually incorrect, per-se defamatory and slanderous against her and her family.
The court also issued summons to Gokhale on the main suit and directed him to file his written statement within four weeks and listed the case before the joint registrar on September 10.
The court warned that due diligence or at least a “preliminary inquiry into facts” was necessary before anyone posts “messages on a social media platform, made accessible to all members of the public, against any person.”
Justice C Hari Shankar’s observations came while directing Saket Gokhale to immediately delete alleged defamatory tweets against former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri. The court also restrained him from posting any more “scandalous” tweets against her and her husband, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Referring to the ease with which anyone could be vilified online, the court noted, “All that is needed is the opening of a social media account and, thereafter, posting of messages. Thousands of responses are received and, in the process, the reputation of the man, who is targeted, becomes mud.”
It underlined that the “reputations, nourished and nurtured over years of selfless service and toil, may crumble in an instant; one thoughtless barb is sufficient.”
The court also rejected Gokhale’s claim that a person had no responsibility to reach out to the subject or verify facts before posting it on social media. “Such a submission, if accepted, would place the reputation of every citizen in serious jeopardy, and open to ransom at the hands of every social media vigilante, some of whose intentions may be less than honourable. This is even more so in the case of public figures, whose actions are, as a matter of course, subjected to intensive and invasive dissection by all members of the public,” the court said.
It said, if Gokhale failed to delete the tweets within 24 hours, Twitter should take them down. Justice Shankar noted that, “Social media, for all its unquestionable and undeniable benefits, as well as its indispensability in modern times, comes with its own sordid sequelae.”
It was hearing a defamation suit filed by Puri, a former assistant secretary-general at the United Nations, against whom Gokhale tweeted on June 13 and 26 and referred to certain property purchased by her in Switzerland.
In her suit Lakshmi Puri had sought Rs 5 crore in damages from Gokhale and an immediate removal of the tweets, contending that these were false and factually incorrect, per-se defamatory and slanderous against her and her family.
The court also issued summons to Gokhale on the main suit and directed him to file his written statement within four weeks and listed the case before the joint registrar on September 10.
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