Made & Presented By:

Manoj Kumar
B.B.A.LL.B
8TH Semester
Defamation is defined under section 499 of the IPC.
It is the communication of a false statement that
harms the reputation of
an individual person, business, product, group, gov
ernment, religion, or nation.
Libel (Written Slander (Oral or
defamatory spoken defamatory
statement) statement)
 Statement makes
Publication of a
reference to the
statement.
plaintiff.

Statement reaches the

Statement is
plaintiff in statement
communicated to some
causes actual or
person other than
presume damage to
plaintiff himself.
the plaintiff.
 Restrictions
Security of the
Defamation State

Contempt of court Friendly

relations with
foreign States
Decency and morality

Public order
 What if the publisher didn’t
intend that meaning?
It doesn’t matter. What matters is what ordinary readers or
viewers will make of it. When Metro magazine jokingly
described a gossip columnist as “permanently pssst”, for
example, a jury felt this suggested she was regularly drunk and
awarded damages.
 What if the publisher is reporting
about suspicions?

This is a very tricky area. The precise meaning of what

was said will often be contested. Courts may take a
report of suspicions to convey an impression of guilt.
More subtly, they may find that the report suggests there
are “reasonable grounds” for believing or investigating
wrongdoing. In that case, the publisher wouldn’t have to
prove guilt, but would have to prove there is good reason
to suspect guilt.
Can humour be defamatory?
Yes. Humour, satire, sarcasm, cartoons and spoofs that
make fun of people can be defamatory, by holding
people up to ridicule unfairly. But it can be difficult to
predict whether a court will say “although dressed up as
a joke, the barb is defamatory and damaging” or “no-one
would take this seriously, it’s obviously just a bit of fun”.
 Can a dead person be
defamed?
No. But coverage about the wrongdoing of a dead
person that reflects badly on friends or associates
who are still alive may defame them.
Defences of defamation

Truth

Fair or bonafide
Comment

Privilege: Absolute
& Qualified
Radio and Television is a means of communication
they also have freedom of speech and expression
according to article 19 of the indian constitution
but there are restrictions also so they should be
restricted by limitations provided under art.19 i.e
defamation etc.