Supreme Court Says It’s Time to Decriminalise Defamation Law
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has indicated that the time has come to decriminalise defamation, while agreeing to hear a plea by the Foundation for Independent Journalism seeking to quash summons issued in a criminal defamation case.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Amita Singh. The remarks came during the hearing of the plea filed by the organisation, which runs The Wire news portal, and its political affairs editor, Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta.
“I think the time has come to decriminalise all this…” Justice Sundresh observed orally.
The plea challenges a trial court order summoning the accused in a defamation case filed by the former JNU professor over a published dossier. The complainant had told the lower court that the report was part of a campaign to malign her reputation.
This is the second round of litigation over the alleged defamatory report. In 2023, the Delhi High Court had quashed the summons, but the Supreme Court later reversed that decision and sent the matter back to the trial court for reconsideration. The trial court again issued summons, which the high court upheld.
