The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a Delhi High Court decision that had dismissed the summons issued to online news portal The Wire in a defamation case filed by Professor Amita Singh of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) [Amita Singh v. The Wire through its Editor Siddharth Bhatia and anr].
The controversy stems from a report by The Wire, which claimed that Professor Singh led a group of JNU teachers who created a 200-page dossier describing JNU as a "den of organized sex racket."
The Bench, consisting of Justices MM Sundresh and Aravind Kumar, instructed the Magistrate to reassess the issuance of summons after thoroughly reviewing The Wire's article.
"The High Court has certainly overstepped its jurisdiction. We have no hesitation in setting aside the impugned judgment. Both the High Court and the Magistrate have erred. The magistrate has not examined the actual publication; the law does not prevent him from doing so before issuing summons," the Bench ruled.
The Magistrate has been granted the freedom to re-evaluate the matter independently of the High Court's previous observations.
In July of the previous year, the Supreme Court had requested responses from The Wire and JNU regarding the criminal defamation proceedings initiated by Professor Singh. At that time, the Bench had expressed skepticism about the defamation claim.
Professor Amita Singh, from JNU's Centre for Law & Governance, appealed a March Delhi High Court ruling that had nullified the summons issued by a magistrate court.
According to The Wire's report, the dossier was titled ‘Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Den of Secessionism and Terrorism,’ and was allegedly submitted to the JNU administration. It accused some JNU teachers of fostering a culture supporting separatist movements in India. The article indicated that Singh was a leading figure among the teachers who compiled the dossier.
In response, Singh filed a criminal defamation case against The Wire and its reporter in 2016, leading to the issuance of summons by a magistrate in February 2017. However, there was no progress in the case over the next seven years.
The High Court had noted the lack of progress and stayed the trial court proceedings. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani had observed that the publication did not accuse Singh of any wrongdoing or portray her in a derogatory manner, leading to the quashing of the summons.
Dissatisfied with this outcome, Singh approached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has now allowed the appeal and directed the Magistrate to reconsider the issuance of summons.
Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan represented The Wire.
TAGS: Supreme Court Delhi High Court defamation case The Wire Professor Amita Singh JNU dossier criminal defamation summons jurisdiction magistrate news report.
