This article discusses the judgment of a City Civil Court in Mumbai that protected the right of criticism of illegal acts of the State. It also discusses the way in which criticism of public functionaries has been dealt with by the Indian legal system.

This blog post summarizes the current position on defamation law in India.

This news article discusses the problems associated with the implementation of defamation law in India.

This blog post discusses the problem of SLAPP suits in defamation cases in India; and provides a number of well-publicized cases in which a SLAPP suit has been effectively used to silence free speech.

This blog post discusses the Court order granted to IIPM regarding allegedly defamatory statements made about the University in news articles and blogs; and the subsequent move of the Government to censor websites in response to the Court order.

This article discusses the constitutionality of the blocking orders issued by the Department of Telecommunications to Internet Service Providers, and specifically focuses on those issued as a result of the IIPM defamation lawsuit.

This post discusses the criminal defamation suit filed against a 19-year-old boy in India for certain comments posted on Facebook. The author argues that bloggers cannot be equated to large newspapers and media houses. He suggests that instead of seeing this as an issue of the privilege of bloggers v. newspapers, it might make sense to locate the history of criminal defamation within the larger context of free speech as it affects different kinds of practitioners.

This Blog post discusses two Indian High Court judgments that have dealt with the problem of SLAPP suits in India.

This blog post discusses phenomenon of SLAPP suits and analyses the situations in which defamation SLAPPs have been used in India to silence public opinion.

This blog post discussed Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, and the Intermediary Rules notified under the Act in light of the three recent cases of defamation filed against ISPs in India.

This article discusses the resolution of defamation of religions that was adopted by the United Nations, and analyses rulings of the English courts and the European Court of Human Rights on defamation of religion.

This article discusses the debate of free speech and the defamation of religions. It analyses the recent cases of censorship of material that makes controversial religious statements, especially against Islam. The article also discusses ruling of US Courts on group libel law.

This article discusses the right of local bodies to sue for libel, and its effect on the provision in the Indian Criminal Procedure Code that allows for prosecuting persons who have defamed ‘public servants’ in respect of their conduct in that capacity.

This article discusses the judgments of the Indian and Pakistani Supreme Courts on the issue of proving malice in defamation lawsuits instituted by a public figure plaintiff.

In this article, Rajeev Dhavan argues that defamation lawsuits have becoming an increasingly popular tool to attack whistleblowers and suppress accounts of corruption.

Lord Macaulay’s notes on the offences under the IPC provide an invaluable guide to its interpretation. In Note R, he has provided a note exclusively on the chapter of defamation.

This report provides an analysis of the various criminal libel laws in India, particularly those which are being used to curb free speech on the internet, such as the IT Act, the IPC and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act. It uses a dialectical approach to discuss the Indian media policy in light of constitutional “reasonable restrictions” as interpreted by the Supreme Court of India.

This module on Defamation law provides an introduction to the law of defamation in India, and also provides a summary of the pertinent case law on the subject.