Press Should Refrain From Publishing Defamatory Content Against Private Citizen If It Serves No Public Interest: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

Debunking “Truth” as a defence for publishing defamatory material against a private citizen where no public interest is involved, Justice Vinod Chaterjee Koul remarked,

“...The press has the right to expose cases of corruption and irregularities in public bodies as a custodian of public interest but such reporting should be based on irrefutable evidence, published after due inquiry and verification from the concerned sources and should include the version of the person or authority being commented upon”.

Justice Koul made these observations while hearing a plea in terms of which the petitioner, owner of a newspaper, was seeking quashing of a complaint and the proceedings emanating therefrom.

The complainant, a retired IGP had filed a complaint before the trial court alleging that the petitioner had been deliberately and maliciously carrying out false, scandalous and defamatory news items against the complainant in his newspaper and as a result, the name and goodwill enjoyed by him in the society had been extensively damaged because of the news items carried by him in his newspaper. Taking cognisance of the complaint, the trial court had issued process against the petitioner.

Assailing the complaint, the petitioner argued that the trial court erroneously took cognizance of the case without sufficient material to establish offenses under Sections 499, 500, 501, 502 RPC. The petitioner further submitted that the news items published were sourced from information obtained through the J&K Right to Information Act, and hence he believed it to be true and published it in good faith.

Scrutinising the news articles published by the petitioner in his newspaper against the complainant/respondent, the bench opined,

“The articles, when read in totality, would indicate that its tenor is clearly to defame the complainant by terming him as a “corrupt person‟ who throughout has misused his position of power and is a dishonest person”, the bench remarked.

Deliberating on the nature of the headlines, the court said that they amply demonstrated that the intention of the petitioner which was to defame the respondent.

“The material collected by the petitioner was not published with purely the information received but on the contrary the petitioner`s own interpretation and opinion was also mixed and published in the newspaper. This in conclusion cannot be protected as free speech protected under Article 19 of the Constitution”, Justice Koul opined.

In light of these observations, the bench did not find it prudent to invoke its inherent powers under Sec 482 CrPC and hence dismissed the plea.

Case Title: Pritam Chand alias Pritam Singh Vs Dr. Kamal Saini.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 5

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