Free Speech Tracker

List of Incidents in Jammu and Kashmir -> Defamation -> 2017
Madhu Kishwar And Other Cases: Criminal Defamation Has No Place In A Free Society
Ref: https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/madhu-kishwar-and-other-cases-criminal-defamation-has-no-place-in-a-free-society
Another session of Parliament has passed by without any movement on attempts to decriminalise defamation, despite the fact that such a move would enjoy the support from politicians cutting across party lines. While lack of political momentum has doomed any hopes of legislative reform, we continue to see the repeated use of this law to infringe on the citizen’s freedom of expression. In the past few months, we have seen prominent journalists and activists such as Josy Joseph and Madhu Kishwar targeted using this law. A few weeks ago, a Hyderabad court sentenced five Dalit students to six months in prison under this law.