In a notable judgment, the Delhi High Court has stated that social media users should be prepared to handle criticism, emphasizing that posts can provoke both positive and negative reactions. This observation came as the court dismissed a defamation suit filed by the online legal education platform Law Sikho against four individuals over their tweets.
Justice Manmeet PS Arora ruled that the suit lacked merit and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on Law Sikho. The platform had taken legal action after its official tweeted about National Law University (NLU) graduates being “incompetent,” which sparked a series of critical responses from users, including NLU alumni.
The court noted that the original tweet by the Law Sikho official was intended to elicit reactions and fell into the category of “online trolling” — a strategy used to provoke emotional responses to increase social media presence. “A post published on a social media platform is bound either to be appreciated or criticized, and the user has to have broad shoulders to bear the criticism,” Justice Arora stated in her 54-page verdict.
The lawsuit was brought forth after a tweet from a Law Sikho official claimed that top law firms were hiring “allegedly incompetent” NLU graduates directly from campuses, which led to backlash from the alumni. The platform argued that the reactions were harmful, derogatory, and damaging to its reputation and financial stability.
However, the judge found that the official’s tweet was provocative and that the subsequent responses were a natural outcome of this provocation. The judge also pointed out that initially, the Law Sikho official did not take offense to the responses and seemed pleased that the tweet had provoked engagement. It was only after more users joined the conversation and criticized the official that Law Sikho decided to pursue legal action.
Justice Arora also highlighted that a cause of action for defamation would only arise if the opinion expressed caused actual harm, loss, or injury. She criticized the platform for not using the available remedies under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guideline and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which involve filing a complaint with the grievance officer, and instead approaching the court prematurely.
