In a defamation case, the Calcutta High Court directed a wife to pay Rs. 1 Lakh for the emotional “distress caused” to the husband as damages for publishing a notice in ‘The Daily Telegram’ falsely accusing him of trying to marry another woman during the subsistence of the first marriage.

The husband subsequently filed a suit for libel against the wife and the newspaper’s editor, claiming damages of Rs. 50,00,000. The Court held that there was “ample proof of defamation” after noting that the wife was neither able to prove the allegation of the alleged illicit relationship of her husband, nor was she able to name the alleged girl with whom she claimed the husband was going to marry.

A Single Bench of Justice Supratim Bhattacharya held, “This Court is of the view that imposition of amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) as damages upon the appellant Ananta for defaming her husband Ramchander is not an exorbitant amount considering the fact that she is a working woman, working as a Draughtsman in the APWD department under Andaman and Nicobar Island, Port Blair.”

Advocate KMB Jayapal appeared for the Appellant, while Senior Advocate Anjili Nag represented the Respondents.

Brief Facts

The notice published by the wife in the newspaper alleged that the husband was trying to enter into a second marriage during the subsistence of the first marriage with her. The wife deposed that it was not a fact that she was told or knew that the husband was having an illicit relationship with another woman.

Court’s Reasoning

The High Court explained that in order to prove an action as defamation, the complainant must prove that the statement which he complains about has been referred to him. “It is immaterial that the defendant did not intend to defame the plaintiff. If from the statement published it can be reasonably inferred that the statement refers to the plaintiff, the defendant is nevertheless liable,” it stated.

The Bench noted, “In this present case, the wife has published a notice not only once but on two dates in a daily newspaper which is circulated in the said island which according to herself has been published without having the knowledge of the informant and in addition in spite of her diligent efforts she has not been able to gather the information as regards to the name of the girl with whom she has entangled her husband that is Ramchander. This according to a person of prudent thinking causes emotional distress to the person involving whom such news is circulated having no basis.”

The Court stated that “damages to reputation through libel is hard to quantify but the other side of the coin is also fact that each and every citizen of this country as per the provision laid down under Article 21 of the Constitution of India has the fundamental right to live with dignity.”

“Law of Torts does not have the power to put a person in incarceration but it has been empowered to award damages. To deter any person from spreading any baseless news defaming another person damages have been incorporated under the Law of Torts. Quantifying such amount of damages acts as a deterrent factor and nothing more than that and it is imposed to keep the society intact,” the Court remarked.

The Bench held that “Asheem Poddar being the editor of the newspaper The Daily Telegram, government press, Port Blair has no role to play in the defamation of the said Ramchander as because the notices have been published in the daily newspaper subject to payment of cost wherein the editor has no responsibility to check and verify each and every notice. As such, the said respondent is not liable for the defamation of the said Ramchander.”

Consequently, the Court ordered, “Thus, from the discussions made above this Court is of the view that there being defamation of the husband namely Ramchander by the wife namely Ananta the impugned order requires certain modification which is to the extent that the wife has to Pay Rs.1,00,000/- to the Husband within three months from this date.”

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Appeal.

Cause Title: A v. R & Anr. (SA 7 of 2024)