Too sensitive, too silent

The Delhi court recently said that criminal slander law undermines freedom of speech. Now, the Supreme Court should look at these laws again.

Indian politics is one of the most intense politics in the world. But strangely, politicians often act unable to cope with criticism. When someone says something they don’t like, they file criminal defamation cases regularly. The Delhi court recently rejected such cases filed by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The court noted that if every speech was considered slander, the right to freedom of speech would not mean anything.

To be clear, this is not to say that it is OK to destroy someone’s reputation. But there should be a fair way to deal with such complaints. It has nothing to do with criminal charges and should be civil penalties, such as fines.

The problem is that courts don’t always follow the same logic. In 2023, Rahul Gandhi was convicted by Surat Court, who commented four years ago. He was sentenced to two years in prison, causing him to lose his place in parliament. The Supreme Court later suspended the ruling, allowing him to return. As the supreme politician, Rahul Gandhi can fight back. But ordinary people don’t have that kind of power.

Imagine a woman being accused of defamation just to talk about harassment. Or cartoonists are in trouble for drawing something that criticizes the government. Even if they are not convicted, they are only delayed enough punishment in legal proceedings. This fear prevents people from expressing their opinions freely and even threatens the freedom of the press. Democracy itself is at risk when people are afraid to speak out.

India’s new criminal law replaced the old criminal law of the British era, but did not solve the problem. The new law still makes defamation a crime and follows the same harsh rules. They define slander in an overly broad way, which can be anything from “harmful to someone’s feelings” to “make them look bad.” This allows politicians to use these laws as weapons, even if they are victims themselves. But for ordinary people, these laws are just tools to bully and silence them.

The Supreme Court should resolve this unfair system. Freedom of speech is too important to be at the mercy of sensitive politicians.

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