( 1 ) A person is identified by his name. His name may have no value to society but would be precious to the person concerned. A good name is better than great riches. Shakespeare"s Othell o, Act III, Scene 3,167:

"good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls; who steals my purse, steals trash; "tis something, nothing; "t was mine, "tis his, and has been slave to thousands; but he that flinches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed. "

( 2 ) LAWS of defamation aims at protecting the name and goodwill of a person in society.

( 3 ) BACKDROP facts giving rise to the present petitions are that in the year 2000 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against some employees of DDA who were allegedly involved in a housing allotment scam. Smt. Usha Ravichandran, Senior Personal Secretary to Commissioner (Personnel)was also accused of being involved in the scam. Thereafter, all the employees booked as accused by CBI including Smt. Usha Ravinchandran were suspended. (Usha ravichandran was suspended on 16. 11. 2000)

( 4 ) SUBSEQUENTLY, on 15. 6. 2001 suspension of Smt