NEW DELHI, Jul 24 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Delhi High Court order quashing the summons issued against the Editor and Deputy Editor of ‘The Wire’ in a defamation case.
The defamation case had been filed by JNU Professor Amrita Singh in 2016 concerning an article published by the web magazine.
A Supreme Court Division Bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar observed that the high court had exceeded its jurisdiction while finding fault with the reasoning adopted in issuing the summon, and gone ahead and decided the matter in merits holding that no case of defamation is made out.
The apex court remitted the case to the magistrate’s court for issuance of summons.
The top judiciary said, “Given this, that the high court, without expressing any opinion on the merits, set aside the judgment, the case has been remitted to the Magistrate’s Court”.
Singh filed a complaint in 2016 against the Wire’s Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha for his article written in April 2016 titled “Dossier Call JNU “Den of Organised Sex Racket”. Students, Professors Allege Hate Campaign”.
Singh claimed that the publication imputed that she prepared a dossier allegedly depicting JNU as a “Den of Organised Sex Racket”.
The complaint alleged that the Editor did not verify the authenticity of the dossier and used it for monetary benefits of its magazine, defaming Singh’s reputation.
The summoning order was passed against the Wire’s Editor Siddharth Bhatia and Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad by a Metropolitan Magistrate of a Delhi Court in 2017.
During the hearing, the JNU in October 2023 denied receiving any dossier which was allegedly prepared by Professor Singh describing the University as a “den of organised sex racket”. .(UNI)
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