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Reputation is something that every person holds very dearly. It allows one to live with dignity in society. A person works hard to earn respect in society. Hence, he has the right to protect his reputation. He can take action against anyone who tries to tarnish his image in society. Defamation constitutes a tort or crime.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, “Defamation is an offense of injuring somebody’s character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements”. With the role of media increasing day by day, the number of defamation statements is also increasing. Publishing any false news report or stating something in the mass media can result in defamation. Article 19 of our Constitution guarantees every citizen the freedom of speech and expression. But these rights are subject to reasonable restriction. Any person or organization cannot exercise his/her right in a manner that affects another person negatively.
Defamation may be in the form of ‘Libel’ or ‘Slander’. Libel is the representation in a permanent form like publication in the newspaper, book, magazine, printing, painting, picture, or statue. Whereas Slander is the representation in a non-permanent form like speech or gesture.
Essentials of Defamation:
The representation made by the defendant must be false.
The representation must be defamatory in nature.
The representation must be seen or heard by a third party.
The defendant must have the intention, knowledge, or reason to believe that such a statement may harm the plaintiff.
When defamation occurs one can go for either a civil suit or a criminal case against the offender. In a civil suit monetary compensation is awarded to the plaintiff. It comes under ‘tort law’. While criminal defamation is governed under Section 499, Section 500, Section 501, and Section 502 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. In case of criminal defamation, the offender may be awarded 'simple imprisonment' or a fine.
Section 501 of IPC states that “Whoever prints or engraves any matter, knowing or having good reason to believe that such matter is defamatory of any person, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”
In Ram Jethmalani v. Subramanian Swamy, the court held that "the provisions of defamations act as a check on Article 19 of the Constitution so as to protect the reputation of the people". When a defamatory report is published, the publisher, owner, editor, and distributor can be held liable. In the case of Narayan Swamy v. Rajmal, the sub-editor, as well as the editor, was held liable even if the editor was absent on the day of publication. In D.P. Choudhary and Ors. v. Kumari Manjulata, the court held the publisher liable for defaming a girl and her family. They also paid compensation of Rs. 10000 for the embarrassment they had to face in society.
The media has a wide reach and anything published in the media easily catches the attention of the public. Although the media can be sued for defamation for making any false defamatory statements against someone there are certain exceptions. For example, true and accurate report of court or assembly proceedings, criticism of the govt mechanism, true facts for the public welfare, etc. Media is considered the fourth pillar of democracy. It acts as the bridge the between govt and the civilians. Hence it has the responsibility and right to inform the public of the truth.
Citations:
[1] Ram Jethmalani v. Subramanian Swamy AIR 2006 Delhi 300
For a more detailed understanding, refer to the" D.P. Choudhary and Ors. v. Kumari Manjulata" case study by clicking the case below.
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