NARESH KUMAR Vs. WIRE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present suit has been filed by the plaintiff, seeking permanent injunction, along with damages and compensation from the defendant nos. 1 and 2 on account of defamation.

(2.) The plaintiff is stated to be a highly reputed and admired civil servant, currently serving as the Chief Secretary of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi since 21/4/2023.

(3.) It is averred in the plaint that the defendant nos. 1 and 2 have made, published, circulated (or cause to be made/published/circulated) the article titled 'Links of Son of Delhi Chief Secretary to Beneficiary's Family in Land Over-Valuation Case Raise Questions' dtd. 9/11/2023 (hereinafter referred to as the impugned article), available at https://thewire.in/government/delhi-chief-secretary-nhai-land-compensation, containing libellous allegations and insinuations against the plaintiff, all which are false, malicious, motivated, tainted with collateral objectives, unfounded and misconceived, having been made knowingly and deliberately, calculated to harm the dignity and reputation of the plaintiff. The defendant no. 2, who is the correspondent of defendant no. 1 and the author for the Article dtd. 9/11/2023 have hosted these false insinuations on the website of the https://thewire.in/, defendant no. 1, and further circulated the same on various social media outlets such as that of Twitter, as well as Google, and other media platforms, to defame the plaintiff and cause disrepute to his reputation.