Defamation And Democracy: What Does The Law Say?

Abstract:

In India, 'defamation' is a criminal as well as civil offence that is punishable with imprisonment (under Sections; 499 – definition and 500 – punishment of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) / Defamation law) and by the award of damages (under the law of torts). For defamation to be said to be done, an individual must have either created or disseminated content that is defamatory, i.e., that causes injury to a third party's reputation. Thus, while the purpose of Defamation law is to protect or safeguard the interest of persons in their reputation, in a number of cases it becomes quite evident that Defamation law can (and is) quite easily misused and manipulated to further personal and political agendas. This has been highlighted quite lucidly by the recent conviction and disqualification of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the largest Opposition Party, from the Lok Sabha. Further, the sentence meted out in this case is two years, which happens to be the