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3mo ago

Supreme Court Signals Rethink on Criminal Defamation, Pauses The Wire Case

The bench stayed the case following notice to the complainant, a step that could lead to a review of its 2016 ruling upholding criminal defamation.

The Supreme Court made the observation while hearing a plea against 'The Wire' and its Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha.
The court stayed a trial proceeding against the news portal The Wire. (HT PHOTO)
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Overview

  • During a hearing on The Wire’s plea, Justice M. M. Sundresh said, “I think time has come to decriminalise all this,” in an oral observation that does not change the law.
  • The Supreme Court issued notice and stayed trial proceedings in the defamation complaint filed in 2016 by former JNU professor Amita Singh over an article about a purported dossier.
  • Defamation remains a criminal offence under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced IPC Sections 499/500, and any change would require a formal ruling or legislation.
  • The matter was tagged with related petitions, including those involving Rahul Gandhi, as Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal supported reconsidering the criminal provisions.
  • The case has cycled through courts since 2017—initial summons, High Court quash in 2023, Supreme Court remand in 2024, fresh summons upheld in May 2025—illustrating concerns about lengthy prosecutions affecting journalists.