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Manoj Kumar Tiwari vs. Manish Sisodia & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 1104Decided 17 Oct 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 1791 of 2022
S. Abdul Nazeer · V. Ramasubramanian

Background

The then Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi filed a criminal defamation complaint against six individuals, including BJP leaders Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Vijender Gupta, alleging they falsely accused him of corruption worth Rs. 2000 crore over school-classroom construction contracts: Tiwari at a press conference, Gupta through tweets. A magistrate summoned all the accused, and the Delhi High Court upheld that summoning order. Tiwari and Gupta separately appealed to the Supreme Court against being summoned.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the two accused separately. It held that Tiwari's press conference statements: directly alleging a Rs. 2000 crore scam: were specific and capable of harming the complainant's reputation, so his appeal was dismissed and the summoning order against him stands. But Gupta's tweets, which only said things like "your answer will disclose your scam" and taunted the complainant to answer questions, were found too vague and rhetorical (more political sparring than a concrete defamatory imputation) to satisfy Section 499 IPC. The Court set aside the summoning order as against Gupta alone, while the complaint continues against the other accused.

Lesson Learnt

Not every harsh political accusation amounts to criminal defamation. Courts distinguish between specific, factual imputations capable of harming reputation (which can attract Section 499 IPC) and vague rhetorical taunts or challenges, which do not.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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