“The defamation law can not be used as a political counter-weapon”, the bench said, according to IANS.
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The SC stayed the warrant and said “Someone calling a Govt corrupt or unfit can’t be slapped with defamation prosecution”.
The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Rohinton Nariman said such defamation cases against the lawmakers and those who criticise government policies have a “chilling effect”. There has to be tolerance for criticism.
The earlier one concerned a criminal defamation case filed by the Dharmapuri Public Prosecutor against DMDK leader Vijaykanth.
The Supreme Court today pulled up the Jayalalithaa-led Tamil Nadu government for using defamation cases as a “political tool”. Criticism is a basic right in democracy…
The SC also sought to know from the Tamil Nadu government as to how many defamation cases it has filed in the state.
The penal provision on defamation (Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC) should not be used to throttle dissent, the bench said, adding that the court must step in if there are continuous efforts to harass people by filing a number of defamation cases.
The bench told the counsel representing the Tamil Nadu government that there should not be abuse of defamation provisions.
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In this particular case, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Vijayakanth for some remarks the actor allegedly made against Jayalalithaa. Because anonymous comments may be biased or unreliable, you agree that you will not allow any comment(s) to affect your estimation of any person(s) or organisation(s).
