New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday remarked that the time has come to decriminalise defamation, legal news portal Bar and Bench reported. The comment marks a shift from the Supreme Court’s 2016 judgment that had upheld the constitutional validity of criminal defamation laws, ruling that the right to reputation falls under the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.
In its 2016 judgment, the Supreme Court upheld Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was in force back then. Since then, Section 499 has been replaced by the Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which in turn has replaced the Indian Penal Code.
The Supreme Court’s suggestion today came as it heard a plea challenging a summons issued by a magistrate, and subsequently upheld by the Delhi High Court, to the online publication The Wire in a criminal defamation case filed by a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor. The top court has issued a notice on the plea challenging summons to The Wire in the defamation case.
The criminal defamation case was filed against The Wire and its reporter following a 2016 news article alleging the professor’s involvement in compiling a 200-page controversial dossier against JNU.
During Monday’s hearing, Justice MM Sundresh observed, “I think time has come to decriminalise all this…” Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing The Wire, concurred with the Court’s observation, supporting the need for reform.
Defamation remains a criminal offence in India under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a provision that replaced Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code.
In the Subramanian Swamy vs Union of India case in 2016, the top court upheld the constitutionality of criminal defamation, ruling that it served as a reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 and was a fundamental aspect of the right to life and liberty.
