The Delhi High Court has restrained the sale and publication of a book purportedly on the life of Yoga guru Ramdev who claimed that it had defamatory content. Justice Anu Malhotra said the right to reputation of a living individual cannot be “crucified” at the “altar of the right to freedom of speech and expression” of another.
The court’s observation came on a petition filed by Ramdev against the book titled ‘Godman To Tycoon’, saying the book, purportedly on his life, had defamatory content and harmed his economic interests and reputation.
“This is so as the right to reputation of a living individual under Article 21 of the Constitution of India cannot be sacrificed and crucified at the altar of the right to freedom of speech and expression of another... “...And both have to be harmonised and balanced in as much as no amount of damages can redeem the damage to reputation of any person and merely because there have been previous publications on the same issue, the same does not permit any repetitions of prima facie defamatory insinuations against him,” the court said.