By

1.Mayuri Mahajan (9411)

2.Pratik Mukne (9415)
3.Vinaya Patil (9418)
4.Khushi Sen (9423)
 Introduction
According to the Indian Penal Code:
Whoever by words either spoken or intended to be
read, or by signs or by visible representations,
makes or publishes any imputation concerning any
person intending to harm, or knowing or having
reason to believe that such imputation will harm,
the reputation of such person, is said, except in the
cases hereinafter excepted, to defame that person

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In Simple Terms
Defamation may be by words, either
spoken or intended to be read, or by signs
or visible representation
Any person who makes or publishes any
accusation concerning any person, knowing
or having reason to believe that such
accusation will harm, the reputation of such
person, is said, to defame that person
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Punishment For Defamation

Whoever defames another shall be punished

with simple imprisonment for a term which
may extend to two years, or fine, or both

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Cyber Crime
Cyber crimes can involve criminal activities
that are traditional in nature, such as theft,
fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief, all
of which are subject to the Indian Penal
Code
The abuse of computers has also given birth
to a gamut of new age crimes that are
addressed by the Information Technology
Act, 2000
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 Cyber Defamation
SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra:
Indias first case of cyber defamation was reported
when a companys employee (defendant) started
sending derogatory, defamatory and obscene e-mails
about its Managing Director
The e-mails were anonymous and frequent, and were
sent to many of their business associates to tarnish the
image and goodwill of the plaintiff company

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 Cyber Defamation
The plaintiff was able to identify the defendant with the
help of a private computer expert and moved the Delhi
High Court
The court granted an ad-interim injunction and
restrained the employee from sending, publishing and
transmitting e-mails, which are defamatory or
derogatory to the plaintiffs

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 Media & Defamation
Restrictions on media: Under the Indian Constitution
The Supreme Court and High Courts are empowered to
intervene and punish the publication of any matter, which
causes prejudice to a pending proceeding, to keep the
stream of justice clear and pure so that parties may proceed
with safety both to themselves and to their character
No person can flout the mandate of law of respecting the
courts for establishment of rule of law under the cloak of
freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the
Constitution

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Trial By Media
Nowadays, the sensationalism involved in certain
high profile criminal cases has become very
common with the spread of mass communication
Example can be taken from the recent Aarushi
murder case
Moreover, such media trials unnecessarily draw
the judiciary into the public scanner, often making
a mockery of the justice delivery system

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Case 1
Criminal Defamation Against
Tamil bi-weekly Junior Vikatan
Vikatan had published article
against Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi
Complaint was filed against
the author of the article and
Editor, Printer and Publisher
Principal Session Judge P
Devdoss adjourned hearing in
the case
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Case 2
FIR against Vijaya Karnataka for Dalit abuse
FIR was registered against Vijaya Karnataka
daily in Kavoor Police station
Vijaya Karnataka had published defamatory
and abusive artice against SC, ST lecturer of
Mangalore

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 Case 2
Defamatory article was published
against Mangalore university
Journalism Department Lecturer
Umeshchandra
FIR was registered under SC, ST
prevention of Atrocities Act
Even though FIR was registered
once again the daily published
abusive article
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 Case 3
Kareena-Shahid photos not in good taste: SC
A debate over media ethics fueled by the media
releasing to the public the photographs of two
Bollywood actors in an intimate posture reached
the Supreme Court
Two judges, hearing a case relating to media
rights, observed that it was not in good taste
A Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal
and Mr Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, hearing the
preliminary arguments
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Case 3
The petitions, by the Hindu Editor N. Ravi and
others, were filed in the wake of several
defamation cases lodged by the Tamil Nadu
Government against them for allegedly publishing
defamatory news items and articles
The court further hinted at the need to create a
balance between public interest and defamation so
that the freedom was not stretched beyond limits

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Case 3
Earlier, when the petition was sought to be
dismissed as most of the cases had been
withdrawn by the Tamil Nadu Government,
Advocate Salve highlighted the importance of the
issue that involved important question of law
especially with regard to press freedom
He stated We are a newspaper and we have to
report several happenings for public interest. We
cannot have Section 499 of the IPC always staring
at us. It has a chilling effect.
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Case 4
Ahmedabad: A
defamation case has
been filed against
Janata Party leader
Subramanian Swamy
for allegedly using
slanderous language
against Congress
general secretary
Rahul Gandhi
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Case 4
The suit was filed by Gujarat Youth
Congress General Secretary Prakash Gurjar
in the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate,
B.T. Dave
The complaint has been filed under section
499(Defamation) of the Indian Penal Code
(IPC)

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Case 5
Defamation case against A.R Rahman and Anil
Kapoor

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Case 5
In a complaint filed before a local court in
Mumbai Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, general
secretary of Slum-dwellers Joint Action
Committee, has alleged that the film depicted
slum-dwellers in bad taste as it used the
derogatory and objectionable title 'Slumdog
Millionaire' thus calling Indians dogs and slum
dwellers slum dogs, which is defamatory

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Case 5
The meaning of 'Slumdog Millionaire' in Hindi is
the millionaire dog of slum-dwellers,
Vishwakarma alleged, adding that such a name
was a violation of human rights and honour
Vishwakarma said he has already approached the
national and state human rights commissions for
necessary action against Rahman and Kapoor, who
portrays the role of a game show host in the film

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Case 6
Tamil actress Khushboo
Interview to English periodical
India Today in September
2005
Degenerating remarks against
Tamil women, spoke of pre-
marital sex etc
A bench of Chief Justice K.G.
Balakrishnan, Justice R.V.
Raveendran and Justice M.K.
Sharma 23
 Case 7
School teacher Uma
Khurana accused of running
a sex racket
Complaint against Sudhir
Choudhary, CEO of TV
channel Live India
Fake Sting operation that
stirred violence in Sarvoday
Kanya Vidyalaya 24
Case 8
Shah Rukh
Khan vs.
State of
Rajasthan
and Ors.
Dated:
20/8/2007
Movie: Ram
Jaane

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Case 8
Complaint against: Shah Rukh Khan
(Actor), Rajeev Mehra (Director), Pravesh
Mehra (Producer), the Co-Script-writer, the
female lead, the distributors for Rajasthan
and for India
Defamation of the lawyer community due to
Shah Rukh Khans statement in the movie

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Conclusion
Defamation law doesn't work well to protect
reputations
It prevents the dialogue and debate which is
necessary to seek the truth
Published statements - including libellous ones - are
open, available to be criticised and refuted
The worst part of defamation law is its chilling effect
on free speech

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Conclusion
Thus, Section 499 has different sub-sections and
categories, which were evident through these few cases
In the contemporary society, defamation has got several
aspects to itself. People have become increasingly aware
of the Legal system and are rising against such injustice
Hence, we, as media students, need to understand the
system ourselves
Being aware of your rights and observing some simple
guidelines can help you make informed choices about
what to say and publish
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