Defemation

• Defamation is an injury to a person’s reputation which is regarded a part of his property. It

constitutes an actionable wrong and gives rise to civil remedy of damages.

• Reputation is an integral and important aspect of the dignity of an individual. (State of Bihar vs
Lal Krishna Advani 2003.)

• Libel- libel consists in the publication of a defamatory statement in some permanent form.

• Slander- defamation is oral or by gestures or in some other way transit form, it constitutes the
tort of slander.

• Under indian law both libel and slander constitute criminal offence under section 499 of IPC.

• At common law, while libel is both the criminal offence as well as a civil wrong, slander is
regarded as capable of constituting only a civil wrong.

• Libels are actionable per se whereas slander requires proof of special damage.

• In following cases slander may be said to be actionable per se

1 imputation of criminal conduct

2 imputation of contagious disease

3. imputation of unchastity

4. imputation of unfit in business

• The statement must be defamatory

• A defamatory statement is one which injures a person’s reputation. There is no necessity for
there to be a disparagement of the moral or intellect character of the person concerned.

• Test: Do the words tend to make right thinking people shun or avoid the plaintiff or tend to
exclude him from society? Do the words tend to injure the plaintiff in his profession or trade.

• Whether or not particular words are defamatory is a question of fact and not Law.

Essential ingredients

• In some cases, words are not defamatory in ordinary sense but may nevertheless convey a
defamatory meaning through an innuendo.

• For the tort of defamation what matters is the harm caused to the plaintiff and not the intention
of the defendant.
 • The test is whether right thinking members of the society would understand the statement in a
defamatory sense.

• In such situations where the identity of the plaintiff was not known to the publisher, it was held
that since the publisher, when he published the news item did not know of the existence of the
plaintiff and had later published a correction in his paper, he was not libale for defamation .

• It may amount to defamation to impute anything to a dead person if the imputation would harm
that person had he been alive and if it is intended to be hurtful to the feelings of his family or
other near relatives

Responsibilities

• The plaintiff may sue an author, editor, proprietor, printer and publisher for defamation. All
these persons would be jointly and severally liable and may be sued as such.

• In awarding punitive damages, the court consider not what the plaintiff would like to receive but
what the defendant ought to pay for his conduct.

Defence against defamation

• Truth

• Fair Comment

• Public Interest

• Comment rather than fact

• Basis of Truth

• Fairness

• Privileges : Absolute and Qualified

• Consent

• Apology

• Justification: Truth is a valid defence

• The truth of the defamatory statement is a complete defence to a civil action for libel or slander.

• The defendant may justify a defamatory statement by proving its truth in all material respects.
The test is whether the allegation is true in substance and in fact.
If the statement is proved to be substantially true its does not matter if it is inaccurate on some
unimportant detail

• Injunctions: a defamatory statement may be restrained by an injunction under S 38 and 39 of

Specific Relief Act 1953.

• Damages: Damages are recoverable in an action for defamation depending upon the nature and
character of defamation, the extent of circulation, the position in life of the person concerned,
the nature of imputation and the mode of publication.

• Cost