About Criminal Defamation
- As per the Black’s Law Dictionary, defamation means “The offence of injuring a person’s character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements”.
- Defamation is categorised into two types written of liber and oral or slander:
- Libel is an untrue defamatory statement that is made in writing. Slander is an untrue defamatory statement that is spoken orally.
- According to Indian Law libel and slander, both are considered to be criminal offences. To be considered defamation, such statements must be made publicly.
- Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 499 makes it unlawful to communicate any false information about an individual to harm their reputation and the prescribed maximum punishment is two years.
- However, Section 354(2) of the 2023 Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act states: “Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both or with community service.”
- The Supreme Court of India in Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2016) upheld criminal defamation, balancing free speech and the right to protect reputation.
- The Law Commission said that reputation is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution because freedom of speech should not be used to harm others’ feelings.
- Article 19 (2) enumerates grounds on which restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression can be imposed, one of which is defamation.
- According to data published by UNESCO, 160 countries in the world criminalize defamation.
