Defamation

A local news channel in Thane airs a clip suggesting that a school trustee has been siphoning off fee money. The story is wrong. Parents who once greeted the trustee now avoid him, and his name trends on WhatsApp groups. He can sue for damages in a civil court, but he can also file a criminal complaint. Why is a harm to reputation a crime at all, what must the prosecution show, and when is even a damaging statement protected by one of the ten exceptions?

In two minutes

BNS s.356 (old IPC s.499) makes it a crime to make or publish an imputation concerning a person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe it will harm, that person's reputation, unless one of the ten exceptions applies; the punishment is simple imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, or community service.

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