Criminal Defamation Proceedings: Delhi HC Quashes Summons By JNU Professor Against News Portal

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday quashed the summons issued by a Magistrate court in criminal defamation proceedings initiated by a JNU professor, Amita Singh against online news portal ‘The Wire.’

A single bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the order stating that there was no material before the Magistrate upon which the summoning order could have been issued.

“As a sequitur to the above, summoning order dated 07.01.2017 made by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate in criminal complaint bearing C.C. No. 32203/2016 cannot be sustained in law; and is accordingly quashed and set-aside,” Justice Bhambhani stated.

While overturning the Magistrate’s order, the bench also noted that the publication made no claim that Singh (respondent) was involved in any wrongdoing. Furthermore, it used no derogatory, derisive, or demeaning language to describe the respondent.

“This court is unable to discern therefore, as to how the subject publication can be said to have defamed the respondent.”

In 2016, Singh filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against The Wire, its editor Siddharth Varadrajan, and reporter Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta.

The defamation suit was filed in response to a story published on The Wire that claimed a group of JNU professors compiled a 200-page dossier labeling JNU a “den of organized sex racket.”

The dossier was headlined ‘Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Nest of Secessionism and Terrorism,’ according to The Wire.  Amita Singh, a professor at the Centre for Law and Governance, led the group of professors that created the report.

According to the narrative, the dossier was submitted to the JNU administration and accused several JNU teachers of creating a decadent culture at JNU and legitimizing separatist movements in India.

In February 2017, the magistrate court issued summons in the matter. The same was challenged by The Wire.

However, The Wire  to the again approached the High Court in 2022, claiming that despite seven years having elapsed and the matter still being pending here, the magistrate was merely ready to issue a notice in the matter.

The single bench of Justice Bhambhani had then stayed the proceedings before the trial court.