Supreme Court Sets Aside Delhi HC Order Quashing Summons To 'The Wire' In Ex-JNU Professor's Criminal Defamation Case

The Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar observed that the High Court, in the impugned judgment, while finding fault with the reasoning adopted in issuing the summon, went ahead and decided the matter in merits holding that no case of defamation is made out. "We are of the view that the High Court has certainly exceeded its jurisdiction", the Court stated.

In view of this, the Court, without expressing any opinion on the merits, set aside the impugned judgment. The Court remitted the issue of issuance of summons to the magistrate.

The complaint was filed by Singh in 2016 wherein she has referred to an article written by the Wire's Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha in April 2016 titled “Dossier Call JNU "Den of Organised Sex Racket"; Students, Professors Allege Hate Campaign”. Singh had claimed that the publication imputed that she prepared a dossier allegedly depicting JNU as a “Den of Organised Sex Racket”. The complaint alleged that the Editor did not verify the authenticity of the Dossier and used it for monetary benefits of its magazine, defaming Singh's reputation. The summoning order was passed against the Wire's Editor Siddharth Bhatia and Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad by a Delhi metropolitan court in 2017.

In response to the Court's queries during the hearing, the JNU told the Court in October 2023 that it has not received any dossier which was allegedly prepared by Professor Singh describing the University as a "den of organised sex racket".

Brief Recap Of The Complaint And The Impugned Order

Pertinently, the complaint alleged that the Editor did not verify the authenticity of the Dossier and used it for monetary benefits of its magazine, defaming Singh's reputation. Moreover, in the complaint, she also alleged that the accused persons had started a hate campaign against her to malign her reputation. The summoning order was passed against the Wire's Editor, Siddharth Bhatia, and Deputy Editor, Ajoy Ashirwad, by a Delhi metropolitan court in 2017.

In March 2023, the Delhi High Court quashed the summoning order, observing that there is nothing therein that could be considered to be defamatory against Singh. The Court recorded: “…. the aforesaid caption only says that the dossier called JNU a “den of organised sex racket”, but nothing in the extract says anything against the respondent herself, much less anything that could be taken to be defamatory of the respondent.”

Case Title: Amita Singh v. The Wire Through its Editor Siddharth Bhatia And Anr. SLP(Crl) No. 6146/2023