Supreme Court Questions Criminal Defamation, Stays Trial Against The Wire

New Delhi, September 22, 2025: The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the time had come to reconsider criminal defamation laws as it stayed proceedings in a case against news portal The Wire, filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Amita Singh. The complaint was linked to a report alleging her role in preparing a dossier on an alleged sex racket at the university.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SC Sharma, noting the drawn-out nature of the litigation, remarked, “For how long can you keep on dragging this matter?” The court issued notice on a plea by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which runs the portal, and tagged it with other pending defamation matters. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, also cited Rahul Gandhi’s challenge to summons in another defamation case related to his remarks on VD Savarkar.

The case dates back to 2016, when Singh, then Chairperson of the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at JNU, filed a defamation complaint against The Wire and its deputy editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha. Singh alleged that the article tarnished her reputation and triggered an online hate campaign. While the Delhi High Court had refused to quash the trial court summons, the Supreme Court last year directed that the magistrate reconsider the matter after pointing out errors in the high court’s approach. Singh has denied the report’s claims, while JNU clarified it never received any such dossier.

By Rajeev Sharma

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