Defamation is a civil wrong. It is a publication of a false statement without any lawful excuse. It is publication of such statement which tends to injure another person. If a statement tends to expose another person for ridicule or contempt, such statement shall also be defamation in nature. The defamatory statement must expose the person to whom it relates to ridicule or contempt.

 Defamation is the publication of a statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right thinking members of the society generally, or which tends to make them hate or avoid that person- Winfield

  Defamation is the publication of a false statement concerning without just cause or excuse, whereby he suffers injury to his reputation – Underhill

According to Salmond the wrong of Defamation consists in the publication of a false and defamatory statement concerning other person without lawful justification.

A man’s reputation is considered valuable property and every man has a right to protect his reputation. This right is acknowledged as an inherent personal right and is a jus in rem i.e., a right good against all persons in the world. Defamation refers to any oral or written statement made by a person which damages the reputation of another person. As per Black’s Law Dictionary, defamation means “The offence of injuring a person’s character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements”. If the statement made is written and is published, then it is “libel”. If the defamatory statement is spoken, then it is a “slander”.

The following are essentials of defamation which must be proved in order to succeed for an action in the nature of Defamation:

1. False statement: The statement must be false. False statement is that statement which is not true. If the statement is correct than no question of defamation arises. False statement gives rise to Defamation. The statement in law of Torts possesses technical meaning. The statement may be oral as well as written.

2. Published by the defendant: In order to succeed for an action of Defamation the plaintiff must prove that defamatory statement was published by the defendant and that statement relates to the plaintiff. Plaintiff is also required to prove that the statement was published by the defendant or he shall not succeed. If the plaintiff himself publishes defamatory statement then person is not responsible.

3. Publication: Publication is necessary for defamation. Publication is understood in technical sense in relation to the tort of Defamation. It is a means through which contents of the defamatory statement are conveyed to someone else other than the plaintiff. If a defendant has communicated defamatory statement only to the plaintiff and not to else then it shall not amount to Defamation.

4. Defamatory statement: Only defamatory statement amount to defamation. Thus it is a defamatory statement which lowers down the plaintiff in the estimation of right thinking person’s of the society or it is statement which if known to a reasonable person shall cause him to be shunt and avoided by the person in the society.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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If you would also like to contribute to my website, then do share your articles or poems at adv.aishwaryasandeep@gmail.com

We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.

We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge