New Delhi, July 18 -- The Delhi high court has ruled that employers could face defamation charges if their termination letters indirectly force ex-employees to reveal dismissal reasons, thereby harming their reputation with new employers. A bench of justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav delivered the detailed verdict on Monday while dealing with a suit filed by a former employee of Wipro, who sought Rs.2 crore as damages from the company for allegedly issuing a defamatory termination letter containing adverse remarks. The petitioner Abhijit Mishra also sought a fresh termination letter, asserting that the current letter was replete with defamatory, derogatory assertions that maligned his character and had resulted in serious damage to his reputation. Opposing the plea, Wipro's counsel said the statements constituted factual assertions, necessitated by his conduct including his repeated correspondence with various internal and external entities and were merely reflective of circumstances that compelled the company to formally articulate its position. The counsel further submitted that there was no defamation since the letter was solely delivered to Mishra and thus the statements could not be said to have been published. Mishra, the lawyer said, himself had made the remarks known to third parties on his own volition. Invoking the American doctrine of compelled self-publication which allows a person to sue for defamation even if they themselves were the one to disclose the defamatory statement -provided the disclosure was made under compulsion, the bench held....