Criminal defamation
Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Criminal defamation means harming someone's reputation by false statements and being punished for it as a crime. It was in IPC Section 499 and is now Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Defamation is one of the eight grounds in Article 19(2) on which free speech can be reasonably limited.
Example
In Subramanian Swamy (2016), the Supreme Court upheld criminal defamation. It held that a person's reputation is part of the right to life with dignity under Article 21, so the State may protect it.
Don't confuse with
- Civil defamation: the person hurt sues for money damages in a civil court. In criminal defamation, the wrongdoer can be punished.
- Sedition: this was about exciting hatred against the government. Defamation protects the reputation of a person.
Related concepts
- Right to freedom
- Freedom of speech and expression
- Freedom of the press
- Reasonable restrictions
- Restrictions on freedom of speech
- Romesh Thappar case
- Kedar Nath Singh case
- Sedition
- Shreya Singhal case
- Bijoe Emmanuel case