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Defamation suits should be prosecuted expeditiously, because the right to reputation is a part of Article 21: Karnataka High Court

Dated: January 22, 2021

                                                                                                                                                           - By Megha Bhatia

According to the Karnataka High Court, suits relating to the offence of defamation should be prosecuted as expeditiously as possible, because the right to a reputation is a facet of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 

A single-judge Bench of Justice Krishna Dixit claimed that it is not necessary to allow cases relating to defamation to continue indefinitely.

“The suits founded on the tort of defamation need to be tried as expeditiously as possible; reputation, be it personal or occupational, for any person is sacrosanct; the apex court has ruled that, the right to reputation is a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the Court said.

The Court heard a petition lodged by HD Devegowda, Member of Rajya Sabha and former Prime Minister of India, seeking to quash a civil court order denying him to adduce evidence at the trial stage in a defamation suit brought against him.

The Court dismissed the petition, noting that the request for restitution for the harm to reputation deserves quicker consideration before the public memory fades with regard to the issue.

“Public memory being too short to be little, the claim for redressal for the hurt of reputation merits speedier consideration and ideally speaking, before the public memory fades. In defamation suits, award of damages in terms of money hardly constitutes a full recompense for the injury suffered; delayed justice makes it still worse; this is an added reason for the speedy trial of such suits; they cannot be allowed to be dragged on indefinitely,” the Court said.

The former PM appealed an order dated 17 November 2020 by which the civil court dismissed his requests submitted at a late date demanding the reopening of the case, in order to provide facts.

The details of the case go back to 27 June 2012, when a lawsuit was filed against Devegowda by M/S Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Limited (NICE). The complainant demanded a total of Rs. 10 crore for the damages. In September, 2012, Devegowda filed a written statement of objections, opposing the complaint.

The testimony from NICE (respondent in the present plea) was concluded in 2019 and the case was released on February 26 for defence evidence. Devegowda and his lawyers, however, remained absent, and his testimony was thus taken as null.

Applications were moved again when the suit was posted for arguments about a year later, to reopen the suit. However, Devegowda did not file an affidavit in support of his arguments to reopen the suit. 

The subordinate court refused to allow Devegowda to present his oral and documentary evidence. Aggrieved by this, he approached the High Court and set the subordinate court aside.

After going through the memorandum of facts submitted by Devegowda and the trial court's order, the court said, “The learned judge of the Court below having exercised his discretion in accordance with rules of reason & justice, has made the impugned order the kind of which does not merit a deeper examination at the hands of a Writ Court exercising a limited supervisory jurisdiction constitutionally vested in it by Article 227.”

The Court further urged the judge of the trial court to treat the case within an external limit of nine months.