Justices Sundresh and Sharma stayed The Wire’s trial, questioning delays; petition joined with Rahul Gandhi’s defamation case over his VD Savarkar remarks
New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Monday observed that it is high time defamation should be decriminalised, while staying trial proceedings against news portal The Wire in a case filed by former JNU professor Amita Singh. The case pertains to a news report alleging Singh submitted a dossier on an alleged sex racket at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SC Sharma issued a notice on a petition filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which runs The Wire. The court stayed the trial and remarked, “For how long can you keep on dragging this matter?” The petition was tagged with other pending defamation matters, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s challenge against summons in a defamation case over his remarks on VD Savarkar.
Singh had filed the case in 2016 against The Wire and its deputy editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha. She acted as Chairperson of JNU’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance. The complaint alleged that the portal’s news report wrongly linked her to a dossier, harming her reputation and prompting a social media hate campaign.
In July 2024, the Supreme Court had noted that the Delhi High Court erred by examining the merits prematurely and directed a magistrate to take a fresh call on the summons. Singh contested the high court’s earlier decision, claiming it ignored key report contents. JNU denied receiving any dossier as claimed, while Singh denied preparing it, asserting the report defamed her publicly.
