The Supreme Court on Tuesday said some people appeared to have misunderstood its judgment upholding the criminal defamation provision in the IPC and thought that their right to free speech had been curtailed.
During the hearing on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's petition seeking quashing of a criminal defamation case against him, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, "Any criticism of someone does not make the speech a ground for launching criminal defamation proceedings under Sections 499 and 500 of Indian Penal Code."