As, the Delhi High Court was hearing a defamation suit filed by former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, the bench headed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh declined Gambhir’s interim request for an interim injunction, saying it could not issue a blanket order and issued notices to the editor and reporters of the newspaper, Punjab Kesari, to respond to the suit.

Former Cricketer had sought ₹2 crore in damages from the newspaper editor Aditya Chopra, and journalists Amit Kumar and Imran Khan, stating that they misused their journalistic freedom by publishing many articles systematically targeting him.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, who heard the former cricketer’s lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai flag some of the articles, said: “If the reporter has gone to the area and found such comments being made then... You are a public servant, an elected person, you need not be so sensitive.....Any public person should be thick-skinned. With this social media and all, even judges have to be thick-skinned,” Justice Singh said.

Justice Singh remarked that some of the words used for Gambhir were not appropriate. “Does this person live in your constituency? If he is a voter for you, then he can say things like that. This is on the lighter side... If you read all the articles, it is my prima facie opinion that the reporter is behind this person. Some of the words and sentences that he has used are not proper for your paper, “ the judge said.

Senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, who appeared for the newspaper, said he may not personally like some of the words used by the paper but asked if Gautam Gambhir’s plea for injunction implied that the newspaper should not report on him unless Gambhir likes it.

The next date of hearing is in October.