The Kerala High Court recently set aside the criminal proceedings against Asianet News, its bureau chief, and its editor for airing a press conference that allegedly contained defamatory statements.Justice C.S. Dias held that continuing to prosecute the petitioners would be equivalent to attaching liability on them for a crime they had not committed. The court noted that the mere act of telecasting a press conference, without anything more, would not automatically attract criminal liability for defamation. The defamation complaint was made by George Thomas of Ernakulam against the statements made at a press conference by one Anitha Guha Brown, who had previously worked with Mr. Thomas. Ms. Brown had stated in her press conference, which was aired by Asianet among other channels, that Mr. Thomas had cheated her of several crores of rupees. Mr. Thomas contended that the telecast had portrayed him as a person wielding political influence who had absconded after cheating Ms. Brown. The court noted that there was no allegation in the complaint that the petitioners authored, uttered or independently published defamatory statements against Mr. Thomas. Their only fault lay in telecasting the press conference through the Asianet News channel. A broadcaster covering a press conference could not presume the contents of the speaker’s statements, and unless the complaint specified the criminal intention or active participation in the alleged defamation, the accused could not be held liable, the court said. Published - August 04, 2026 09:00 pm IST