New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday indicated its inclination towards decriminalising defamation while hearing a case against online news portal The Wire, filed by Amita Singh, a retired professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
A bench comprising Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to Singh in response to a petition submitted by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which operates the news portal. “I think the time has come to decriminalise all this. How long will you go on dragging this?” the bench observed during the proceedings.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing The Wire, concurred with the court’s remarks.
The case stems from a 2016 article published by the portal, which alleged that Singh led a group of JNU teachers who compiled a 200-page dossier describing the university as a “den of organised sex racket.” The dossier, reportedly titled ‘Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Den of Secessionism and Terrorism,’ was said to have accused some faculty members of fostering separatist ideologies and promoting a “decadent culture.”
Singh subsequently filed a criminal defamation case against the portal and its reporter. In 2017, a magisterial court issued summons in the matter. Last year, the Supreme Court set aside those summons and directed the lower court to reassess the article before making a fresh determination. Despite this, the magistrate once again issued summons, prompting The Wire to approach the Delhi High Court. The High Court, however, dismissed the petition, leading the portal to challenge the decision before the apex court.
Currently, Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) treats defamation as a criminal offence. India remains among the few democracies where such provisions exist. The law has faced repeated constitutional challenges, with political leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal previously questioning its validity.