Defamation cases should not be used as a weapon: SC

NEW DELHI, JULY 28 (PTI): The Supreme Court today said defamation cases should not be used as a political counter weapon against critics of governments and stayed non-bailable warrants (NBW) issued against DMDK Chief and actor politician Vijayakanth and his wife Premlata in such a matter.   “Anyone calling a government corrupt or unfit cannot be slapped with defamation case,” a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said.   The apex court further said, “there has to be tolerance to criticism...defamation cases cannot be used as a political counter weapon. Cases for criticizing the government or bureaucrats create a chilling effect.”  

The penal provision on defamation (section 499 and 500 of the IPC) should not be used to throttle dissent, the bench said, adding that the court must step in, if there are continuous efforts to harass persons by filing a number of defamation cases.   A Tirupur trial court had yesterday issued a non-bailable warrant against Vijayakanth and his wife after they failed to appear before the court with regard to the defamation case against them.   The case lodged by Public Prosecutor of Tirupur district was on the allegation that they made false remarks against Jayalalithaa and criticised the functioning of the State government on November 6, 2015.