285th Report of Law Commission recommends Criminal defamation to be retained as part of new criminal laws | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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    285th Report of Law Commission recommends Criminal defamation to be retained as part of new criminal laws

    Posted 03 Feb 2024

    Updated 19 Mar 2024

    2 min read

    • It highlighted that reputation flows from Article 21, and being a facet of right to life and personal liberty, needs to be adequately protected against defamatory speech and imputations.
      • Defamation is considered a reasonable restriction under Article 19(2) to the freedom of speech and expression in Article 19(1)(a) 

     

    • Defamation is any false statement published or spoken deliberately, intentionally, knowingly with the intention to damage someone’s reputation.
      • In India, defamation is categorized as either criminal or civil.
        • Under criminal defamation, individuals can be charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment or a fine.
        • Civil defamation, on the other hand, involves filing a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages caused by defamatory statements.

     

    • Legal and constitutional Provisions of Criminal Defamation
      • The Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 has comprehensive provisions pertaining to criminal defamation from Section 499-502.
        • Section 499: deals with overall definition of defamation.
        • Section 500: deals with punishment upto 2 years imprisonment or fine or both.
          • The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 adds community service as punishment as well.
      • Section 124A of IPC includes defamation against the state as an offence of Sedition.

     

    Supreme Court (SC) Judgements 

    • Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2016) supreme court upheld  section 499 to be constitutionally valid
    • Chaman Lal v. State of Punjab (1970), SC established the criteria for proving good faith and bona fide in defamation cases.
    • Tags :
    • Criminal defamation
    • Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2016)
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