SC sets aside HC order quashing summons to editors of ‘The Wire’ in defamation case

The Supreme Court has set aside a Delhi High Court order that quashed a summons issued to the editor and deputy editor of online news portal “The Wire” in a criminal defamation case over a publication on a dossier allegedly depicting the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here as a “den of organised sex racket”.

The complaint was filed by Amita Singh, former professor and chairperson of the Centre for Study of Law and Governance at the JNU, against several people, including the editor and deputy editor of “The Wire”, for allegedly imputing in the April 2016 publication that she had prepared the dossier in question.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar said the high court, in its March 29, 2023 order, exceeded its jurisdiction.