SYLLABUS REVISION PROGRAM BY

ISLAMI JAMIAT TALBA, PULC

LLB PART 3

Law of Torts & Easement

Defamation

INTRODUCTION
Right to enjoy a good reputation is one of the inherent personal rights of a person and is protected
by almost all legal systems. Defamation is a statement that injures someone's reputation. It is the
act of saying false things in order to make people have a bad opinion of someone. Defamation is a
wrong done by a person to another's reputation by words, written or spoken, sign or other visible
representation. It's a balance between one person's right to freedom of speech and another's right
to protect their good name.

Derivation:
Defamation is derived from Latin word “Diffamare” means “spreading evil or bad information
about someone”

MEANING OF THE TERM "DEFAMATION' BY OXFORD

DICTIONARY:
Oxford Dictionary has explained defamation as "the action of damaging the good reputation of
someone."

DEFINITION OF DEFAMATION:
According to Winfield:
Winfield has defined defamation as "the publication of a statement which tends to lower a person
in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally or which tends to make them shun
or avoid that person."
According to Oxford Dictionary Of Law
The publication of an untrue statement about a person that tends to lower his reputation in the
opinion of right thinking members of the community or to make them shun or avoid him.

RIGHT AGAINST DEFAMATION IS A RIGHT IN REM:

The violation against right to reputation is clothed with the right of life and liberty and is a right is
rem or jus in rem i.e. a right good against all the world.

KINDS OF DEFAMATION:
According to English law, defamation is of two kinds i.e.
1. Libel

2. Slander

Libel:
A libel is a publication of a false and defamatory statement tending to injure the reputation of
another person without a lawful justification or excuse. The statement must be expressed in some
permanent form e.g. writing, printing, pictures, etc.

Slander:
A slander is a false and defamatory statement made by spoken words or gestures tending to
damage the reputation of another. Slander can be changed into libel.
Illustration: An oral statement by A may be written down by B and shown to C. In that case B
publishes a libel and A's original uttering of the words is a slander.

PUNISHMENT FOR DEFAMATION IN P.P.C:

Defamation is defined as a crime under section 499 of PPC and the prescribed punishment for the
offense of defamation is under section 500 of PPC that is simple imprisonment for a term which
may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
ONUSOF PROOF IS ON THE PLAINTIFF:
The onus of proof in case of defamation is on the plaintiff as he has to satisfy the Court of the
defamatory nature of the statement as well as of the loss consequent to such words.

ESSENTIALS OF TORT OF DEFAMATION:

To establish defamation, a plaintiff normally must prove the following:

1. STATEMENT OF FACT
Often at issue in defamation lawsuits is whether the defendant made a statement of fact or a
statement of opinion.A statement of fact is a statement that can be proven as being true or false
with some objective standard. A statement of opinion is a statement that a person believes to be
true but it cannot be measured against an objective standard and is usually not actionable.
Eg. X says that I think Y is a criminal. It's not defamation.

2.PUBLICATIONS OF THE WORDS

For the purposes of defamation in a legal sense, publication of words mean communication of the
off-putting view about someone to others. The defamatory statement should be communicated to
at least one person other than the plaintiff.

In practice the statement is almost always in the form of words but it can take any form which
conveys meaning, for example a picture, a cartoon, caricature or a statue.
• Illustration:
'A' sketches a caricature of 'B' hiding soap cakes in his pocket pinched from a departmental store.
This caricature will convey to the person who views it about "B” as a thief. Viewers of the
caricature would unconsciously hold tight to their belongings with the fear of losing them in the
presence of 'B' making him feel like a criminal. The caricature is a drawing but will be taken as
publication of defamatory words.

3.STATEMENT MUST BE DEFAMATORY AND FALSE:

It is necessary that the defamatory statement must be false as no action lies against the
defamatory statement which is true.
A statement or the matter complained of is deemed defamatory, which
1. Exposes the plaintiff to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obliquy.
2. Tends to injure him in his trade or profession.
3. Causes him to be shunned or avoided by the society.
Case law:
Hough v London Express Newspaper 1940
Held: Goddard L.J said; "If words are used which impute discreditable conduct to my friend, he
has been defamed to me, although I do not believe the imputation and may even know that it is
untrue."

4. The Statement must refer to plaintiff:

The words of the defendant in order to form tort of defamation should clearly describe or identify
their targeted subject and should not be ambiguous or a mere belief of the plaintiff.
Referring to the plaintiff can be proved by description through initials. It is not necessary for this
purpose that the plaintiff should have been described by its own name. It is sufficient if the plaintiff
is described by the initial letters of his name, or even by a fictitious name, provided he can satisfy
the Court that he was the person referred to.
Example:
It would be no libel if it were written that all the doctors are killers. But writing that Dr. X is a killer
would relate to a particular person and would be actionable as libel.

5. Statement must cause serious harm:Reputation or Financial loss:

The defamatory statement made by the defendant must cause serious damage to him that his
reputation in society harmed people thinking bad about him and started avoiding him.
And because of this defamatory statement he lost his job or profession, facing a serious
financial crisis.

DEFENCE
The following are the defenses taken in an action for defamation:-

1. JUSTIFICATION OF TRUTH
Truth is the most important defense or justification for defamation. This is because only false
statements against a person constitute defamation. Hence, if the person making the statements
proves them to be true, he can escape liability.

Halsbury's laws of England

The defense of justification, which is a good defense in a civil action against libel or slander, is that
the words complained of were true in substance and it fact"
2. FAIR AND BONAFIDE COMMENT
A fair and bonafide comment on a matter of public interest is a defense in an action for
defamation. The essentials of a fair comment are:
(i) That it is comment or criticism and not a statement of fact,
(ii) That the comment is on a matter of public interest,
(iii) That the comment is fair and honest.
For example:
making statements against maladministration by a government's cabinet minister might not
amount to defamation.

3. PRIVILEGED STATEMENT
As the word suggests itself i.e. giving special status. These special occasions when the law
recognizes that the right of free speech outweighs the plaintiffs right to defamation and a
defamatory statement made on such occasion is not actionable.
For example, a Member of Parliament has an absolute privilege for any statements he makes in
Parliament.
The Constitution grants complete immunity from prosecution for defamation for such statements.
Such privileges sometimes exist in judicial proceedings as well.

4. APOLOGY
In case the person who makes a defamatory remark later issues an apology, he can escape
liability of compensation. For this defense, the person suffering the tort of defamation must accept
the apology. The Defamation Act, 1996, provides that a publisher of a defamatory statement may
make an offer in writing to make a declaration by publishing a denial and an apology. In addition,
the injured party must be paid compensation. If the offer were accepted, the injured party may
not continue the action. The act also reduces the time limit when an actionmay be started to one
year.

REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO THE PLAINTIFF:

As to the remedies available to the person defamed he may either proceed by filing a criminal
complaint or may file a civil suit for damages. An injunction under sections 38 & 39 of the specific
Relief Act, 1963 may be obtained to restrain the defamatory publication.

DAMAGES:
Law grants two kinds of remedies in respect of defamation.
(i) A civil suit for damages.
(ii) A criminal prosecution.
The mere fact that there had been a criminal prosecution and a conviction before filing civil suit is
not a sufficient reason for reducing the amount of damages. A person availing one remedy after
another is entitled to get as much compensation as he would otherwise get.
INJUNCTION:
To obtain an injunction the plaintiff has to prove that the allegations were false and without
justification. However, unless there is likelihood of immediate injury to the plaintiff's person,
property or trade, the court hardly acts to grant injunction.

INNUENDO
Sometimes it may happen that the statement was prima facie innocent but because of some
secondary meaning, it may be considered to be defamatory. For this secondary instance plaintiff
must prove the secondary meaning i.e. innuendo which makes the statement defamatory.
E.g: Z makes a statement that X is an honest man and he never stole my watch. Now this
statement is at first instance may be innocent, but it can be defamatory if the person to whom it
was made, interprets from this that X is a dishonest man having stolen the watch.

CONCLUSION:
Defamation is tort resulting from an injury to ones reputation. It is an invasion of the interest in
reputation. The law of defamation is supposed to protect people's reputation from unfair attack. In
practice its main effect is to hinder free speech and protect powerful people from scrutiny.
Defamation law allows people to sue those who say or publish false and malicious comments.

Project Head: Sharjeel Ahmad Hashmi

Team Head: Maryam Rukhsar

Prepared by: Abdullah Tarar

A Project by Islami Jamiat Talba, Punjab University Law College

Best of Luck from Team IJT, PULC