Loss to image, goodwill, reputation, public perception of an

individual and respect are some of the few things a 'victim' cites in
the court of law while suing the other civil and/or criminal
defamation.

 Defamation: Civil & Criminal

 Defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone's
reputation, and the same being published and/ or spoken deliberately, intentionally,
knowingly, with an ulterior motives and malice. Any intentional false communication, either
written or spoken that harms a person’s reputation and decreases the respect, regard or
confidence in which a person is held is called defamation. In nutshell, defamation occurs
when your character or business reputation is called into question by the publication of a
statement about you. Defamation could be written and/ or verbal. Written defamation, typed
material/ printed material/ images, is called Libel, and a spoken defamation is called slander.
In India, a defamation case can be filed under either criminal law or civil law. Under criminal
jurisprudence, the offence is compoundable. If the victim and the Accused settle their disputes
out of the Court, the Court drops the case after recording their statement to that effect.
Court & Fora
[In Hierarchical Order]
 Supreme Court Of India
 High Courts Of Various States
 District & Sessions Judge [D&SJ]
 Metropolitan Magistrates [MM]
 Judicial Magistrates [JM]
 Senior Civil Judges
 Civil Judges

FORMAT OF PLAINT CLAIMING COMPENSATION FOR DEFAMATION

Adv Rose Posted 1 Mar 2019

The format of all Civil suits is pretty much the same. They are governed by Order VI (Pleading) and Order VII
(Plaint) CPC. Please see this for the theory part. Suit for compensation for things like Defamation, Malicious
Prosecution can be filed in the court as determined by Section 19 and 20 of CPC.
In the Court of Civil Judge Class – I at Indore
Suit No. ………… / 20…….
A. B. s/o B. C. 123, M G Road, Delhi ………………………………….. Plaintiff
Vs.
M. N. s/o O. P.456, M G Road, Delhi ………………………………….. Respondent
Plaint under Order 7 Rule 1 for Compensation for Defamation
The plaintiff respectfully states as follows : –
Brief Description of the case:
(1) The respondent publicly accused the plaintiff of selling watered down milk, which has caused immense harm to
the reputation of the plaintiff. The present suit is meant for compensation for the harm done to the plaintiff's
reputation.
Matters of Inducement:
(2) Plaintiff is a milk man and sells milk in many colonies of Indore including MG Road, AB Nagar.
(3) Respondent is the president of an informal residents association of MG Road.
Facts constituting cause of action:
(4) In a residents association meeting held on 10/10/2015, the respondent publicly accused the plaintiff of selling
milk mixed with water. A tape record of the respondent making the accusation is attached with this petition.
(5) The said speech made by the respondent was heard by hundrends of residents of MG Road, where the plaintiff
sells goods.
(6) The said speech has caused the plaintiff a lot of embarrament and loss of business.
(7) The plaintiff denies that he sells watered milk and claims that the statement made by the respondent was
completely baseless.
Jurisdiction:
(10) The meeting where the defamatory statement was made by the respondent happened in Indore, which is
under this court's jurisdiction.
(11) The plaintiff claims, on account of the loss of business as well as mental agony, an amount of 40,000/- which
is under this court's jurisdiction.
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Relief Claimed:
(12) The plaintiff prays that the court be pleased to order the respondent to pay sum of Rs 4,00,000 on account of
the loss of business because of his baseless and false speech. The plaintiff further prays that the respondent be
ordered to pay compensation for mental harassment and cost of this litigation.
(Signature of the plaintiff) advocate for Plaintiff
Place: ………………….
Date: …………………..
Verification

I, ______, do hereby verify that the contents from paras 1 to 12 are correct and true to the best of my knowledge
and personal belief and no part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therein. Affirmed at Delhi this
4th Day of September 2015.
(Signature)
Plaintiff
You can get the help of lawyers in India for additional details.

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Civil

How to Draft a Legal

Notice for
Defamation?
If a person is publicly insulted, they can always claim compensation for the damage done to their
reputation by sending a legal notice for defamation. A defamation legal notice is also a warning
 before dragging the matter to the court. Therefore no reply to legal notice for defamation can
result in more harm. To know how, you can find many reply sample of legal notice for defamation
online. To understand how to draft legal notice for defamation, you can even skip below to the
video.
10,310

You can send a legal notice for defamation as an individual or an institution.

For adept legal expertise on or help with drafting a legal notice for defamation,
connect to our top legal advisors.

But when to send a defamation legal notice? Well, in case someone publishes anything
harming your reputation.

The victim can send legal notice defamation against a man under Section 499 of IPC
seeking remedy under the criminal law or under the Code of Civil Procedure (pdf).

Thus, writing the format for legal notice for defamation is

important. Here MyAdvo helps you!

We offer advocates to help you draft a legal notice for defamation easily!

Since only lawyers know what exactly a legal notice defamation contents includes.
You can even find a sample of legal notice for defamation here.

To elaborate you more on this, let's get to know the term "defamation" first.

Since there are two types under which defamation is classified. So one has to be very
clear while stating the way of defamation has been caused. Especially when your
lawyer is drafting the notice.

Table of Contents:
 1. When Can You Send a Legal Notice for Defamation?

2. Who Can Send Legal Notice for Defamation in India?

3. Important Elements Required for Sending a Defamation Notice

4. Relevant Statutes and Court Dealing with Defamation

5. How to Draft a Legal Notice for Defamation?

6. Who to Ask for Drafting Legal Notice in Defamation Case?

Consult: Expert Criminal Lawyers in India

When Can You Send a Legal Notice for Defamation?

Usually, in India, you can send a legal notice for defamation mainly in two scenarios.
So, when one, or more than one person, tarnish/diminish the reputation of an
individual or an institution by:

 using defamatory words, gestures or other transitory forms, then it's

called defamation by slander.
 writing or printing something, then it's called defamation by libel.

Who Can Send Legal Notice for Defamation in India?

In that context, you should know that in India, there is no such specific provision of
laws which tells who can file the suit for defamation.

But there have been many answers to this question by different precedents of the
Supreme Court.

In the Apex Court’s decision, in respect of an offence of defamation, only the individual
can take legal action, not his/her parents, any other family members or friends.

So if you're wondering about can legal notice be defamation related? The answer is
YES.

You can always take the help of law and stop such propensity harming your reputation
or character. So, for any legal matters, you can always get the best legal advice
onlinethrough MyAdvo!

Important Elements Required for Sending a Defamation Notice

If you want to make allegations of a legal notice amount to defamation then before
doing so you must look for some specific elements in the act of the person whom you
are planning to sue for defamation.

The essential elements are as follows:

1. The defamatory statement must be false: If accusations on any person for

making defamatory remarks are true facts, then no defamation suit will rely
on.
2. No privileged statement will come under the preview of defamation: There are
various situations where a statement might be protected by privilege. (e.g., if
 the statement repeats material or facts from a court proceeding or other public
documents, then one can say that the statement is privileged. According to the
law as well, a privileged statement cannot be brought in the defamation suit.)
3. Opinion is NOT a defamatory statement: Making any remarks in the form of
opinion by a person be it true or false; irrespective of the fact, one can't treat
opinion as a defamatory remark.
4. The statement must be published: A statement will only come under
defamation if it is read or heard by someone other than who remarks.(e.g., if
anyone abuses a person in private message, then it's not defamation. But, if
anyone abuses in a group inbox, then it will be defamation.)
5. The statement must actually cause reputational damage: Defamation suit will
not stand if the person accused carries a bad character and is notorious in
nature.
The statement must be believable in general prudence. If a person with normal
prudent cannot seriously believe the statement was true, it does not constitute
defamation at all.

Relevant Statutes and Court Dealing with Defamation

The legal notice of defamation is mainly governed by the following laws:

 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC)

 Indian Penal Code, 1862
Reputation is an important an integral part in the life of an individual and the right to
reputation is considered as a natural right.

In the Indian Constitution also, it acts as a Fundamental right and guaranteed

underArticle 21 of the Constitution.

Although the Indian constitution has secured the freedom of speech and expression
under Article 19(1)(a), but the freedom is not absolute and simultaneously the
Constitution has imposed reasonable restrictions in exercising this right in the interest
of:

 the security of the state,

 foreign relation,
 public order,
 decency,
 morality,
 contempt of court, and
 defamation
In India, defamation can be both civil wrong or criminal wrong.
Defamation is a tort under Civil Law.

A person can opt for civil remedy by filing a suit for Defamation and
Compensation depending on the amount of the claim for compensation. One can file
the suit either before:
  the Court of Civil Judge Junior Division, or
 the Munsif, or
 the Court of Civil Judge Senior Division, or
 the Sub-Judge.
In this suit, the plaintiff usually claims for compensation in terms of money due to
his/her loss of reputation.

There is another right available for the victim before the Criminal Court.

If anyone does anything which covers the definition of defamation under Section 499
of the Indian Penal Code, then that person will face punishment under Section 500 of
the Indian Penal Code.

Thus, a criminal procedure can begin against them before the Judicial Magistrate
having First Class rank.

Must Read: Send Legal Notice for Partition of Property

How to Draft a Legal Notice for Defamation?

With the help of good lawyers who is prudent and up to date in the subject matter
and have experiences in handling defamation cases you can draft a legal notice for
defamation.

A legal notice for defamation must contain these essential points:

 Name, description, and place of residence of the recipient of the notice.

 Name, description, and place of residence of the sender of the notice.
 Details of the cause of action.
 The relief claimed by the sender of the notice.
 The detailed description of the incident which raised the cause of
action.
 The specific time frame within which the relief needs to be provided.
The accused person either can reply to legal notice for defamation or try to prove his
innocence, in that case without giving any further reply to his reply legal notice you
can straight institute the suit against him.

Who to Ask for Drafting Legal Notice in Defamation Case?

With MyAdvo you get access to finding lawyers in India, who are expert in sending a
legal notice. All you have to do is just select one that matches your criteria.

MyAdvo acts like a legal concierge. We provide you with a directory of lawyers near
you, who have attained great expertise in their respective legal domains.

MyAdvo provides the finest legal minds of the industry from over 10,000 lawyers
across 500+ districts, right at your screen. So, what are you waiting for download the
MyAdvo App today!

Just express your query via mail on consult@myadvo.in or simply call us at +91-
9811782573 to resolve any and every kind of legal problems.
Reviewed by:
Abhishek Thakkar
Published on 31st Jul, 2019
10,310 views
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