The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to pass an interim order in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Gautam Gambhir in a defamation suit filed by him against Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesari.
“You are an elected person, a public servant, you need not be so sensitive,” Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said, The Indian Express reported. “Any public person should be thick-skinned…Nowadays judges should also be thick-skinned.”
In his defamation plea, the cricketer-turned-politician sought Rs 2 crore in damages from the newspaper for publishing “false and malicious” articles about him, according to PTI. Gambhir had urged the court to direct Punjab Kesari to tender an unconditional apology and publish it in all the newspapers circulated by the group.
He had also sought removal of the allegedly defamatory articles from the newspaper’s website.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Singh said that the articles highlighted by Gambhir gave an impression that the reporter of the newspaper was after him and that some of the words used for the BJP leader may not be appropriate, reported Bar and Bench.
“Upon a bare reading of the impugned news articles, this court is of the prima facie opinion that many of these articles are indicative of willful campaign launched by the defendants to lower the reputation of standing of the plaintiff in the eyes of…
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