Hindi English Translation || Editorial || ​Penalty in proportion: On growing use of criminal defamation proceedings

​Penalty in proportion: On growing use of criminal defamation proceedings

Criminal defamation is incompatible (असंगत) with democratic debate

When the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of criminal defamation (मानहानि) in Subramanian Swamy (2016), reasoning that reputation is part of the right to life, it may not have anticipated the difficulties of this position. On September 22, 2025, during criminal defamation proceedings against the Foundation for Independent Journalism, Justice M.M. Sundresh of the Court voiced his unease at the growing use of criminal defamation proceedings by private individuals and political actors as an insurance against criticism and as a means of retribution (प्रतिशोध). His observation echoes a broader judicial anxiety expressed in recent proceedings against Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and other public figures: that the law is being misused. Criminal defamation proposes imprisonment for speech that injures reputation, a remedy disproportionate (असंतुलित) to the harm caused. Unlike physical harm, reputational injury can be addressed adequately (पर्याप्त) by monetary damages or injunctions. While protecting dignity may justify strong safeguards, protecting reputation seldom warrants criminal punishment. Since 2016, criminal defamation has become a tool of intimidation (धमकी). Editors of The Hindu faced such cases under the Jayalalithaa government, and Mr. Gandhi over remarks about political leaders, with trial courts issuing summons that required the Court’s intervention. The tendency (प्रवृत्ति) of the lower judiciary to issue summons without weighing the threshold of defamatory speech has aggravated the problem.

The law has also become an instrument of propaganda: criminal complainants have weaponised statements taken out of context or distorted (To pull or twist out of shape; to give a misleading or false account or impression of) in circulation, which the law has compounded by attaching the threat of jail time to contested interpretations. In this way, criminal defamation has fostered opportunistic litigation. For example, Subramanian Swamy versus Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Gandhi (2012-14) entangled rivals in a punishing process rather than seeking timely resolution, while suits filed by Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders kept the Delhi government from performing its duties. For journalists in towns, criminal defamation complaints from local politicians or business interests create the risk of arrest and onerous (कष्टदायक) travel to distant courts, fostering self-censorship. Instead, those genuinely aggrieved can approach civil courts for damages, injunctions or retractions (The action of drawing something back or in; a statement withdrawing a previous statement), which address the harm of reputational injury and strike a balance between free expression and protecting reputation. Importantly, civil proceedings also reduce the scope for misuse by the powerful to silence criticism. Many countries, including the U.K., have abolished criminal defamation because such laws are incompatible with democratic debate. It is time for India to follow suit.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Defamation (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – मानहानि
English Meaning – The action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

2.Incompatible (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – असंगत
English Meaning – Unable to exist or be used together.

3.Anxious (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – चिंतित
English Meaning – Experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

4.Retribution (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – प्रतिशोध
English Meaning – Punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.

5.Disproportionate (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – असंतुलित
English Meaning – Too large or too small in comparison to something else.

6.Adequate (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – पर्याप्त
English Meaning – Sufficient for the particular purpose; enough.

7.Intimidation (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – धमकी
English Meaning – The act of frightening or threatening someone to make them do what one wants.

8.Tendency (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – प्रवृत्ति
English Meaning – An inclination toward a particular characteristic or type of behavior.

9.Onerous (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – कष्टदायक
English Meaning – Involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome.

10.Preventive (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – निवारक
English Meaning – Designed to keep something undesirable such as illness, harm, or accident from happening.

11.Retraction (Noun)

English Meaning – The action of drawing something back or in; a statement withdrawing a previous statement.

12.Distort (Verb)

English Meaning – To pull or twist out of shape; to give a misleading or false account or impression of.