NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court held on Thursday that an individual’s right to dignity and reputation overrides the freedom of press. Justice C Sudha made the observation while upholding a trial court’s decision to restrain the circulation of news articles on a banker’s arrest in a money laundering case from which he had been discharged.

“While the media enjoys the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, such right is not absolute and stands correspondingly delimited by the right of an individual to dignity and reputation traceable to Article 21 of the Constitution.

It has been observed that in appropriate cases, particularly where continued dissemination of content results in disproportionate harm to an individual, the right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution must yield to the right under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the court said.

The banker was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2023 in connection with alleged irregularities relating to Moser Baer India Limited. He was discharged from the case on August 17, 2024. The articles mentioning his arrest continued to remain accessible on digital platforms and search engines.