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Defamation – a word everyone’s familiar with. But, as with any popular word, defamation has now become a part of common vocabulary worldwide. But, for India and abroad, the actual legal meaning of the word defamation has somewhat been lost in translation. That’s why as one of the best law firms in Gurgaon today we are going to break this word down through its various nuances. But before we dive into it, let’s understand what the dictionary says about defamation.
What is the Meaning of Defamation?
According to the illustrated dictionary of law, defamation is defined as “an attack on the good reputation of a person, by slander or libel.” In this context slander refers to verbal defamation, and the word libel means defaming a person through writing such as in a newspaper or letter.
While the legal definition of defamation outlines the basics of the matter, there is a lot that is left up to interpretation. Now that our idea of the definition is clear, let’s delve into the nuances of what can and can’t be called defamation.
Defamation and its Nuances
To understand a successful argument on defamation, we’ll take the example of a few hypothetical cases.
Example 1: A files a defamation suit against B for verbal slander in person and private
In the first instance, we look into a case where Person A has been slandered by Person B, but in private inside a closed room.
In this case, the argument for verbal abuse can be held up, in consideration of proof of the matter being presented in court, as it needs to be verified. However, this example cannot be considered as defamation because it has no public impact.
What we mean by public impact is that the words that were spoken, while they may have affected person A individually, had no negative impact on Person A’s public reputation. This helps us learn the first need for a defamation case to be successful – negative impact on a person’s reputation in public.
Example 2: Person X files a defamation lawsuit against Person Y, claiming that their public criticism caused financial losses to their artisan bakery.
In this scenario, Person X, the owner of an artisan bakery, alleges that Person Y’s public criticisms, shared during a community event, have financially damaged their business. This situation aligns with the first scenario we discussed, where a public negative impact is evident. However, the principle of freedom of speech must also be considered.
If there is a demonstrable link between the public criticism and a tangible decline in the bakery’s reputation, the court may decide to examine the case more closely. Should further investigation reveal that Person X’s bakery was not at fault, then the court consider the criticism defamatory.
The Key Takeaway
Defamation works only when the grounds for defamation are met. As the best lawyers in Gurgaon, we commit to effectively informing you that the prerequisites of defamation are nestled in a lot of nuances. Filing a defamation case without having grounds for the same can often lead to wastage of a lot of resources that are better utilised on devising an effective legal strategy to solve your problems.
