The Bombay High Court granted interim relief to singer Kumar Sanu in his Rs 50 crore defamation suit against ex-wife Rita Bhattacharya. Justice Milind Jadhav restrained her and media outlets from publishing defamatory or false statements about him publicly.
The Delhi High Court refused to grant interim relief to YSRCP leader and former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy in a defamation case over media reports on the Tirupati laddu adulteration controversy.
The Court held that restraining the media without hearing them is justified only in exceptional cases and allowed the matter to proceed after pleadings.
Defamation in Indian law, defined under Section 499 of the IPC, involves harming an individual’s reputation through false statements. It includes criminal and civil aspects, with penalties for offenders. Recent judicial interpretations, including the controversial Subramanian Swamy case, highlight tensions between protecting reputation and maintaining free speech rights, necessitating careful legal consideration.
