Delhi HC reserves order on ex-UN envoy Lakshmi Puri's plea against Saket Gokhale

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on former Indian Assistant Secretary General at the UN, Lakshmi Puri's petition against social media activist Saket Gokhale, over his tweets questioning the sources of her income.

The Delhi High Court lashed out at Gokhale for his defamatory tweets against Lakshmi Puri, pointing out that Gokhale had not approached any authorities before putting out allegations against a former public servant.

Gokhale's tweets had allegedly not only raised questions about Puri and her husband's sources of income, they also referred to her as a "thief" and a "black money hoarder".

Hearing the defamation suit, the High Court asked whether any Tom, Dick or Harry could make any vilifying comment against anyone on the Internet, to damage a person's reputation. The Court said that the right to reputation is a protected fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.