1 AS INTRODUCED IN LOK SABHA Bill No. 190 of 2016 THE INDIAN PENAL CODE (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2016 By SHRI BAIJAYANT PANDA, M.P. 5 10 A BILL further to amend the Indian Penal Code, 1860. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows: 1. (1) This Act may be called the Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 2016. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. 2. Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, (hereinafter referred to as the Code), shall be numbered as sub-section (1) thereof, and after the Tenth Exception to sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely: (2) No person shall be punished for the offence of defamation unless (i) the person whose reputation is harmed seeks redressal in this regard; Illustration: X makes a disparaging remarks against Y in bad faith, only Y will be able to seek redressal in court by X. Short title and commencement. Amendment of section 499.
Substitution of new section 500. Punishment for defamation. Substituion of new section 501. Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory. Substitution of new section 502. Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter. 2 (ii) redressal is made within one year of publication or dissemination of defamatory material; Illustration: If X publishes a defamation article against Y on January 1st, 2016, Y can seek legal redressal on or before 1st January, 2017 only. (3) Any person intending to harm or knowing or having reason to believe that any publication will harm the reputation of other person, shall be punished for the offence of defamation on the basis of single publication rule. Explanation. For the purposes of this sub-section 'single publication rule' means (i) the person whose reputation is harmed has only one claim for each mass publication of defamatory article; (ii) all damages suffered in all jurisdiction shall be recovered in one redressal; and (iii) a judgment for or against the complainant upon the merits of any action for damages bars any other action for damages between the same parties.". 3. For section 500 of the Code, the following section shall be substituted, namely: "500. Whoever defames another shall be punished with fine.". 4. For section 501 of the Code, the following section shall be substituted, namely: "501. Whoever prints or engraves any matter, knowing or having good reason to believe that such matter is defamatory of any person, shall be punished with fine.". 5. For section 502 of the Code, the following section shall be substituted, namely: "502. Whoever sells or offers for sale any printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter, knowing that it contains such matter, shall be punished with fine.". 5 10 15 20
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS Free speech is the foundation value of modern democracies. While criminal defamation was incorporated in the Indian Penal Code back in 1860, it was never reviewed by the legislature. The argument that these colonial-era criminal defamation provisions are an unreasonable restriction on the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression bears merit. Indeed a joint declaration by the United Nations Special Rapporteur and other international bodies hold the view that criminal defamation is an unjustifiable restriction. In a recent judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, the Bench in its decision observed that in the "changing climate of growing democracy, it is not permissible to keep alive such a restriction". However it leaves it to the wisdom of the legislature whether or not "to abolish criminality of defamation in the obtaining social climate". This Bill seeks to amend section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to allow for safeguards against unrestrained legal action for defamation. The Bill also mandates that only the offended party can file a defamation complaint, along with other restrictions such as the claim has to be valid only within the year of publication of defamatory article; and that any judgment upon the merits of case disallows further claims by the same parties in any other jurisdiction. Most importantly, this Bill also provides for fine as the only punishment instead of imprisonment or both. Therefore, it is prudent that we review such colonial-era provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Hence, this Bill. NEW DELHI; July 1, 2016. BAIJAYANT PANDA 3
ANNEXURE EXTRACT FROM THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 Defamation. Punishment for defamation. Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory. Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter. (45 OF 1860) 499. Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter expected, to defame that person. Explanation 1. It may amount to defamation to impute anything to a deceased person, if the imputation would harm the reputation of that person if living, and is intended to be hurtful to the feelings of his family or other near relatives. Explanation 2. It may amount to defamation to make an imputation concerning a company or an association or collection of persons as such. Explanation 3. An imputation in the form of an alternative or expressed ironically, may amount to defamation. Explanation 4. No imputation is said to harm a person's reputation, unless that imputation directly or indirectly, in the estimation of others, lowers the moral or intellectual character of that person, or lowers the character of that person in respect of his caste or of his calling, or lowers the credit of that person, or causes it to be believed that the body of that person is in a loathsome state, or in a state generally considered as disgraceful. 500. Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. 501. Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory. Whoever prints or engraves any matters, knowing or having good reason to believe that such matter is defamatory of any person, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. 502. Whoever sells or offers for sale any printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter, knowing that it contains such matter, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. 4
LOK SABHA A BILL further to amend the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Shri Baijayant Panda, M.P.) GMGIPMRND 1510LS(S3) 25-07-2016.