The Delhi High Court has ordered the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) weekly Organiser for taking down an article that alleges a Delhi-based Christian minority school Principal of exploiting nuns and Hindu women. The principal is alleged to have had sexual activities with students, staff members and chefs.
Organised carried an article titled ‘Indian Catholic Church Sex Scandal: Priest exploiting nuns and Hindu women exposed. The same article was also carried in another news platform named The Commune in June 2023.
in an order ,Justice Jyoti Singh directed both the publications to remove the defamatory content from their platforms.
The Court said that both the publications Organiser and The Commune published articles in a reckless manner without any factual verification and have tarnished the image and reputation of the school principal, who is a respectable citizen of this country.
It observed that the school principal has made out a prima facie case in his favour and that as long as these articles continue to remain in public domain, it is likely to continue causing damage to his reputation.
The school principal had moved court stating that he holds key positions in various schools but has never been involved in any sexual activity as alleged or financial wrongdoing in any manner.
The Principal also said that the article was only to harm his reputation and of the missionaries along with his growing popularity.
It was stated that a police complaint has been filed against the two platforms and is pending inquiry.
Justice Singh examined the article in question and said that its contents are defamatory on the face of it.
The bench said that 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.