A Supreme Court judge voiced his exasperation at the increasing use of criminal defamation law by private individuals and political parties to get even, highlighting the need “to decriminalise” slur.
“I think time has come to decriminalise this,” Justice M.M. Sundresh remarked on Monday (September 22, 2025).
What is defamation?
Less than a decade ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional validity of criminal defamation, saying it protected reputation, a part of the fundamental right to life.
The apex court, in Subramanian Swamy versus Union of India, in 2016, had concluded that the criminal defamation law was a “reasonable restriction” to the right to free speech and expression enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
