"Time Has Come To Decriminalise Defamation": Supreme Court's Big Remark

Supreme Court Suggests Decriminalising Defamation in Case Against 'The Wire'

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the news portal, concurred with the Court's perspective.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court made a significant observation on Monday regarding the decriminalisation of defamation while hearing a case against the online news portal 'The Wire', which was filed by Amita Singh, a former professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

A Bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued a notice to Ms Singh in response to a petition filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, the organization that operates the news portal.

"I think the time has come to decriminalise all this. How long will you go on dragging this?" remarked the Supreme Court bench during the proceedings.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the news portal, expressed agreement with the Court's observation.

The case stems from an article published on the news portal in 2016 that claimed Professor Singh led a group of JNU faculty members who had compiled a 200-page dossier, described as a 'den of organised sex racket', containing derogatory comments about the University. According to the report, the document was titled 'Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Den of Secessionism and Terrorism'.

The article reported that the dossier had been submitted to JNU administration, accusing certain JNU teachers of promoting a decadent culture in the university by legitimising separatist movements in India.

Following the publication, Ms Singh initiated a criminal defamation case against 'The Wire' and its reporter.

In 2017, a magisterial court issued summons to the online news portal regarding the defamation case. Last year, the Supreme Court set aside these summons and directed the magistrate court to re-examine the article and make a fresh determination on whether to issue summons. Subsequently, the lower court issued summons to both the news portal and its reporter, a decision that was challenged in the Delhi High Court but was dismissed.

The news portal then approached the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court's ruling.

Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) criminalises defamation. India remains one of the few democratic nations where defamation is treated as a criminal offense. Various political figures, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, have contested the constitutionality of this provision.