Defamation Case Against Editors Of The Wire- SC Issues Notice On Plea By Former JNU Professor Against Quashing Of Summons
|The Supreme Court today has issued a notice to the Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) and its Vice Chancellor (VC) in a plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s order which had set aside the summons issued against the editor and deputy editor of the online news portal “The Wire” in a criminal defamation case over the publication on a dossier wherein JNU was allegedly depicted as a “den of organized sex racket”.
"Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the name of the petitioner has come into a news item attributing that she was part of a dossier submitted to the JNU administration, while she has nothing to do with the dossier, if at all submitted...Issue Notice. We would also like to add JNU through its Vice Chancellor to verify whether any dossier was at all submitted to the University, and if so then to what effect and by whom. We also issue notice to the JNU limited to the aforesaid aspect", a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia observed while hearing the matter.
In the matter, the counsel appearing for the petitioner at the outset submitted that the order issuing summon has been interfered with under Section 482 CrPC by the High Court.
"How can I write about the girls hostel of which I am the professor? I can never imagine”, the Counsel said while highlighting the allegation.
While quoting the relevant portion of the published article in The Wire magazine, the counsel said, “A group of 11 JNU Teachers seen as affiliated to the Bharatiya Janta Party and Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh student’s Wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad have alleged that JNU has become a den of organized sex racket. In a 200-page document compiled last year, after one year they are publishing it, and submitted to the University Administration and the University Administration has denied that they I have received such (document)...the group led by Amita Singh, the petitioner".
"This has attracted a lot of violence, it is already a politically surcharged University, milords", he further added.
"Everything can get politically surcharged, we are not here to discharge it", said Justice Kaul in response.
The bench then further asked, "...The issue here is you in your wisdom and other people in their wisdom submitted a dossier, correct?"
However, the counsel for the petitioner contended, “We have not submitted the dossier...I do not know about the dossier, who has made the dossier...I rather refute each and every line of the dossier...Without verifying they have published it in the newspaper, and I am being subjected to a lot of defamation”.
Previously, the Delhi High Court had set aside the summons issued to the editor and deputy editor of The Wire.
The complaint was filed, for offences punishable under Sections 499, 500, 501, and 502 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against several people including the editor and deputy editor of “The Wire".
The High Court in its order had noted that “On a plain, objective, and careful reading of the extract of the subject publication as contained in the criminal complaint, it appears that the controversial dossier exposes wrongful activities that it says are going-on within the university campus; and that the respondent was leading a team of persons who compiled the dossier. At the risk of repetition, the subject publication nowhere says that the respondent is involved in the wrongful activities; nor does it make any other derogatory reference to her in connection therewith. This court is unable to discern therefore, as to how the subject publication can be said to have defamed the respondent.”
Cause Title: Amita Singh v. The Wire Through Its Editor Siddharth Bhatia