‘Defamation law can’t be used to stifle criticism’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa for foisting criminal defamation complaints against her political opponents to stifle fair criticism of her government.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Rohin-ton Nariman, hearing petitions filed by DMDK leader Vijaykanth and his wife Premalatha challenging the defamation complaints, told senior counsel Rakesh Diwedi, appearing for Ms Jayalalithaa, “You cannot use the state machinery to file defamation cases against political opponents.”

G.S. Mani, counsel for Vijaykanth, told the bench that defamation cases are being filed against political opponents even for fair criticism. The bench issued fresh notice to Ms Jayalalithaa seeking her response returnable on September 21.

“There has to be a healthy democracy. Here, it is a case of state public prosecutor filing the cases. The state is controlling the prosecution. You must face criticism if you are a public figure. You have a right to be criticised. But here you are utilising the state machinery. If you want, you can have a one-to-one fight.”

The bench said Ms Jayalalihtaa can’t use the defamation law to settle personal scores. It also observed that Tamil Nadu was the only state that used the government machinery to fight defamation cases as there are no complaints from other states.