Supreme Court says time has come to decriminalize defamation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the time has come to decriminalize defamation, noting that most democratic countries treat it as a civil offence rather than a criminal one, Bar and Bench quoted.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma made the remark while hearing a plea filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which owns The Wire, against summons issued in a defamation case brought by former JNU professor Amita Singh.

The case stems from a 2016 article published by The Wire titled, “Dossier call JNU ‘den of organized sex racket’; students, professors allege hate campaign.”

“I think time has come to decriminalize all this,” Justice Sundresh was quoted as saying by Live Law, as the court issued notice to Singh in the matter.

Defamation is currently a criminal offence under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code. The provision has frequently been invoked by politicians, individuals and businesses against journalists, rivals and media organizations.

In 2016, the Supreme Court had upheld the validity of criminal defamation after challenges were brought by leaders including Subramanian Swamy, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, who argued that it violated free speech rights.