By Ramla Kalim
It is the first responsibility of every citizen to Question authority, said Benjamin Franklin.
Defamation is a statement that injuries someone’s reputation. It is an act of saying false things in order to make people have a bad opinion of someone. In a democratic country like India, freedom of speech and protection of reputation must co-exist in harmony. Section 356 of BNS [Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita] defines and criminalises defamation. The Section says it occurs when a person makes or publishes any statement – spoken, written or by sign – intending to harm another person’s reputation or knowing that it may cause such harm. It has some exceptions like,
- In public interest, or
- In good faith, etc.
Defamation can be done through two ways – Libel and Slander
- Libel: written or published defamation
- Slander: Spoken defamation
The history of humanity and jurisprudence shows that humans always desired protection of some intrinsic rights – Life, Liberty, Property and Reputation. In social reality, reputation can be the most crucial thing for the humans unlike the others’ right because money and property can be compensated but once reputation is lost everything else loses its values. So, law and courts sometimes treat it as needing preventive protection during Criminal and Civil remedies through Laws of Defamation.
But at similar and utmost times, more important is the Right to Life and Liberty which is brought to life through speech and various forms of expression, most importantly ‘DISSENT’. The word dissent means fair criticism. Dissent has been recognised by the Supreme Court of India as the right to Freedom of Speech under Article 19[1][a] of the Constitution of India.
The reason that draws the issue of dissent and defamation has come to light after the recent dispute between Anjana Om Kashyap and Khan Sir. The whole genesis between them lies in the 2026 NEET paper leak case, after which coaching institutes and teachers started protesting against the government, demanding accountability and resignation of the Union Education Minister.
Anjana Om Kashyap on her show Halla Bol, “NEET COACHING OR ONLINE PADHAI KA BAZAAR” made certain statements like “YouTube waale 2 kaudi ke star teachers”…. In response, various coaching institutes and teachers started trolling her as they claimed the reason behind Kashyap’s distasteful remarks was for protecting the government against dissent while NEET paper leak issue is a common allegation in media houses.
The court may advise both the parties to refrain from making unnecessary allegations against each other and uphold decorum in public discourse. While protecting the fundamental right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, the court must also ensure that this freedom is exercised responsibly and not misused to harm the reputation or rights of others. The media should report such matters objectively, fairly and without bias, while respecting the fundamental rights of all concerned.
