Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

1. Mohammed Abdulla Khan vs Prakash K

   Supreme Court of India 04 Dec 2017 Binding (SC) Reportable

   Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

   A newspaper owner can be prosecuted for defamatory content published in the newspaper under Sections 500, 501, and 502 IPC if the elements of the offence are satisfied. The question of whether the respondent committed the acts constituting the offence with the requisite intention or knowledge cannot be determined at the stage of cognizance without examining evidence. The High Court erred in quashing the complaint against the newspaper owner under Section 482 CrPC without examining the substantive question of criminal liability. The trial court must proceed with the case and examine the evidence to determine the guilt of the respondent.

   On this section: Provides punishment for selling or offering for sale of printed defamatory material. The court clarified that this includes the legal right to sell and transfer title in goods.

   Read the full order on eCourts India

2. Gambhirsinh R. Dekare vs Falgunbhai Chimanbhai Patel

   Supreme Court of India 11 Mar 2013 Binding (SC) Reportable

   Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

   An Editor whose name is printed on a newspaper is presumed under Section 7 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, to be responsible for the selection of matter published in every portion of the newspaper, including editions published from different locations with separate resident editors, unless the Editor proves to the contrary. At the stage of cognizance and issuance of process on a complaint, allegations of knowledge and involvement of the Editor in the publication of defamatory content must be accepted as true; the High Court cannot quash the prosecution based on an assumption that the Editor lacked knowledge when specific allegations establishing such knowledge are pleaded in the complaint. The presumption of editorial responsibility is rebuttable, but the burden to rebut it arises only after the allegation is established or at trial, not at the stage of cognizance.

   On this section: Sale of printed or engraved matter containing defamatory material - applied to the newspaper's distribution of the edition containing defamatory article

   Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.