Defamation: libel and slander, essentials and defences
LUG-101 Law of Torts including Motor Vehicle Accident and Consumer Protection Act, Unit III: Defamation — libel and slander, including defences in an action for defamation. · LLB · 60 min
Defamation protects a person's reputation, the estimation in which others hold him. This lecture gives the definitions of Winfield and Salmond, the English distinction between libel and slander (and the slanders actionable per se) with the Indian position, the three essentials (a defamatory statement, which refers to the plaintiff, and is published to a third person) with the leading cases on each, innuendo, the defences of justification, fair comment, absolute and qualified privilege and apology, and the parallel offence in s. 356 BNS (IPC ss. 499-500) upheld in Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2016). It answers the past questions on defamation and its defences (2017-18, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) and the short note on libel (2019-20).
Objectives
- Define defamation in the words of Winfield and Salmond and explain the interest it protects.
- Distinguish libel from slander, list the slanders actionable per se in England and state the Indian position.
- Explain the three essentials of defamation (defamatory statement, reference to the plaintiff, publication) with the leading cases.
- Explain innuendo and why the defendant's intention is irrelevant (Hulton v. Jones, Cassidy v. Daily Mirror).
- State and apply the defences: justification, fair comment, absolute and qualified privilege, apology and offer of amends.
- Compare civil defamation with the offence under s. 356 BNS and explain Subramanian Swamy (2016) and R. Rajagopal (1994).
Slides
- What defamation protects: definitions
- Libel and slander
- The Indian position on libel and slander
- Essential 1: the statement must be defamatory
- Essential 2: the statement must refer to the plaintiff
- Innuendo: hidden defamatory meanings
- Essential 3: publication to a third person
- Defences 1: justification (truth) and fair comment
- Defences 2: privilege, apology and others
- Criminal defamation, privacy and the Constitution
Loading the lecture…