Misuse of Defamation Law & Debate on Decriminalisation

Defamation: Injury to a person’s reputation through words, signs, or visible representations.

In India, it exists in two forms:

• Civil defamation (damages/compensation under law of torts).

• Criminal defamation (Sections 499 & 500 IPC: imprisonment up to 2 years, fine, or both).

Upheld criminal defamation as constitutionally valid.

Held that:

• Reputation is a facet of Right to Life (Article 21).

• Thus, restrictions on free speech (Article 19(1)(a)) are reasonable.

Justice M.M. Sundresh (2025): remarked, “Time has come to decriminalise this”.

Increasing misuse by:

• Political parties to silence criticism.

• Private individuals to harass journalists, critics, and opponents.

Rahul Gandhi: Faced multiple criminal defamation complaints (remarks on Amit Shah, China-India clash, Savarkar, etc.). SC stayed proceedings.

Shashi Tharoor: Relief in ‘scorpion on Shivling’ case.

The Wire journalists: Summons stayed in case filed by former JNU professor.

Defamatory words/acts must be judged from the perspective of reasonable, firm-minded people, not those who are weak or overly sensitive.

Freedom of Speech vs Protection of Reputation:

• Criminalisation chills free expression, especially political dissent and investigative journalism.

• Civil remedies (damages, injunctions) may be sufficient and less prone to misuse.

Global Trend: Many democracies have decriminalised defamation, retaining only civil liability.