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44. The right to reputation inheres in the right to life and it has been embedded in Article 21 of the Constitution of India, by consistent judicial authority. Reference can be made with profit to the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of Port of Bombay Vs. Dilip Kumar Raghuvendranath Nadkarni, reported at (1983)1 SCC 124. In Gian Kaur Vs. State of Punjab, the Hon'ble Supreme Court confirmed that the right to reputation is a natural right.

45. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Subramanian Swamy Vs. Union of India, reported at (2016) 7 SCC 221, reiterated that the right to reputation as a fundamental right relatable to Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Subramanian Swamy (supra) made an exhaustive survey of national and international judicial authority in point.

46. In Subramanian Swamy (supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court after citing various international covenants which are the sources of international law held as under:

"Various international covenants have stressed on the significance of reputation and honour in a person's life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 has explicit provisions for both, the right to free speech and right to reputation. Article 12 of the said Declaration provides that:

"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."