Defamation in India: what counts, defences, and what to do

A rumour in the colony that you took a bribe. A WhatsApp forward saying a shopkeeper sells fake medicines. Words like these can destroy a reputation built over a lifetime. The law of defamation protects your good name, and it also protects honest criticism, so that nobody can use a court case to silence the truth.

What defamation means

Under Sec 356(1) BNS (earlier Secs 499 and 500 IPC), defamation is making or publishing an "imputation" (an accusation or suggestion) about a person, intending to harm their reputation or knowing it is likely to. It can be spoken, written, drawn, shown in a video or posted online. Written defamation is often called "libel" and spoken defamation "slander"; the law treats both alike.

A living person, a company or a group can be defamed, and so can a dead person if the statement is meant to hurt their family. Hints, irony, a question or a cartoon count if people understand the meaning. The test is how the words lower a person in the eyes of others, not how hurt the person feels. Rudeness alone is not defamation.

Two kinds of cases are possible:

• Criminal defamation under Sec 356(2) BNS: simple imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, or community service. Knowingly printing or selling defamatory matter is also an offence.
• Civil defamation: a suit in a civil court for compensation, called damages, and often an injunction (a court order stopping further publication).

In Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2016), the Supreme Court upheld criminal defamation as a reasonable restriction under Art 19(2), holding that reputation is part of the right to life under Art 21. Whether defamation should remain a crime is debated, but as of October 2026 the law has not changed.

The ten defences: when it is not defamation

Sec 356 BNS lists ten exceptions. If your statement falls within one, it is not an offence. In plain words:

1. Truth for the public good. Truth alone is not enough in criminal law; publishing it must also serve the public.
2. Public servants. An honest opinion on how a public servant does their public work.
3. Public questions. An honest opinion on anyone's conduct on a public issue.
4. Court reports. A substantially true report of court proceedings.
5. Opinion on a decided case and the people in it.
6. Reviews. An honest opinion on a book, film, speech or other public work.
7. Censure by a person in authority, such as an employer's warning to an employee, in good faith.
8. Complaint to the right authority. An accusation made in good faith to someone with lawful authority over the person: the police, an employer, a bar council, a school principal.
9. Protecting your interests. A good-faith statement to protect your own or another's interests, such as a bank reporting an unpaid loan to a credit agency.
10. A caution given in good faith for the good of the person warned or the public.

"Good faith" has a legal meaning. Under Sec 2(11) BNS, nothing is done in good faith if it is done without due care and attention. So "I only forwarded it" is not automatically a defence: forwarding is publication, and the forwarder can be liable.

How it works in practice

No FIR for defamation. It is a non-cognizable offence (police cannot arrest without a warrant or investigate without a magistrate's order). Under Sec 222 BNSS (earlier Sec 199 CrPC), a court takes up a defamation case only on a complaint by the person defamed. If that person is a child, of unsound mind or too ill to complain, someone else may do so with the court's permission.

After the complaint. The magistrate records your statement on oath and may examine your witnesses (Sec 223 BNSS). The accused gets a chance to be heard before the magistrate takes cognizance (formally takes up the case). If there is enough ground, summons is issued. The offence is bailable and compoundable: the defamed person can settle at any stage, usually after an apology, and the case ends.

Civil suit. You can sue for damages in the civil court where the statement was published or where you live. Under the Limitation Act, the suit must be filed within one year of publication. Court fee depends on the amount claimed and varies by state. Courts can also order the content withdrawn, but are careful not to gag honest reporting before trial.

Step by step: if you have been defamed

1. Preserve the evidence. Screenshots showing date, time, account name and link; the original message; for spoken words, a same-day note of who said what, where, and who heard it.
2. Send a legal notice through an advocate demanding retraction, apology and removal within a fixed time. Many disputes end here. Keep proof of delivery.
3. Report online posts to the platform's grievance officer. Most platforms wait for a court order on a pure defamation claim, but the complaint is on record.
4. File a criminal complaint before the Judicial Magistrate of the area, with your evidence and witness list, within three years (Sec 514 BNSS).
5. Or file a civil suit for damages and an injunction within one year. You can do both, but weigh cost and time.
6. Get help. If you cannot afford a lawyer, call 15100 (NALSA) or visit the District Legal Services Authority at the district court.

If you are accused of defamation

• Do not ignore the notice. Reply through an advocate within the time given, and do not post angry replies or new allegations.
• Collect your proof that the statement was true, was clearly an opinion, or went only to a proper authority.
• Correct a genuine mistake quickly. A visible correction or apology often ends the matter.
• If summoned, appear on the date. Defamation is bailable; your advocate can seek discharge if the complaint discloses no offence.