Freedom Of Speech No Licence To Defame Or Run Malicious Campaigns On Social Media: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that while freedom of speech is a cherished constitutional right, it does not extend to publishing defamatory, abusive or malicious content on social media platforms under the guise of free expression.Justice Jyoti Singh said that the right to free expression cannot be exercised to trample upon rights of others, particularly, right to reputation, which is also a valuable right recognized as integral facet of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.The Court said that balancing the right to freedom of speech with the right to reputation and dignity is intrinsic to the Constitutional scheme.The order was passed while directing removal or take down of abusive and derogatory social media posts made against online education platform PhysicsWallah, by a former employee- Nikhil Kumar Singh. The Court passed an ad-interim injunction and held that online content which is ex facie defamatory and disparaging cannot be protected as free speech and warrants injunctive relief.This was after Singh's counsel took the shield of 'freedom of speech' to defend the publishing and circulation of the impugned videos and social media posts.On this, the Court said that though freedom of speech is a cherished fundamental right and constitutes the cornerstone of democratic society but it is not an absolute, unqualified, unfettered or unbridled right.“Albeit a Constitutionally protected right, 'freedom of speech' is circumscribed by well-recognized limitations and reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) and does not encompass speech that is defamatory, malicious, abusive or calculated to injure the reputation or dignity of others and nor can it be construed as a license to harm the reputation of any individual/entity,” the Court said. It added that the law in the trademark regime grants protection from infringement to a registered proprietor of the mark and also shields from erosion of goodwill and reputation, which is a common law right associated with the mark. Justice Singh observed that disparagement through misleading or abusive statements constitutes an unlawful interference in other party's commercial goodwill and is actionable in law. “Use of social media to disseminate disparaging content exacerbates the mischief, given the speed, reach and permanence of digital publications and has the potential to cause immediate and irreparable harm to trademark's reputation as also the goodwill of the effected party, which one builds over years of hard work and investments,” the Court said. It concluded that the contents of the impugned posts and videos published by Singh were prima facie defamatory, abusive and intended to denigrate PhysicsWallah's goodwill as also disparage its brand, which cannot be characterized as fair competition or protected commercial content.“Courts have consistently held that injunctions are warranted in cases of trademark disparagement to prevent erosion of goodwill and consumer deception,” the Court said. Counsel for Plaintiff: Mr. Amit Sibal, Senior Advocate with Mr. Mohit Goel, Mr. Sidhant Goel, Ms. Aishna Jain, Ms. Urvashi Singh, Mr. Shashwat Mukherjee, Mr. Ishaan Pratap Singh and Ms. Ramaynia, AdvocatesCounsel for Defendants: Mr. Utsav Mukherjee, Advocate for D-1; Ms. Mamta Rani Jha, Ms. Shruttima Ehersa, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Aiswarya Debardarsini and Ms. Jahanvi Agarwal, Advocates for D-2; Mr. Abhishek K. Singh and Mr. Saksham Chaturvedi, Advocates for D-3; Ms. Amee Rana, Mr. Vishesh Sharma and Ms. Nivedita Sudheer, Advocates for D-4Title: PHYSICSWALLAH LIMITED v. NIKHIL KUMAR SINGH AND ORSClick here to read order

Freedom Of Speech No Licence To Defame Or Run Malicious Campaigns On Social Media: Delhi High Court

Nupur Thapliyal

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