Can’t lodge an FIR on defamation charges

What is the difference between criminal defamation and civil defamation cases?     Civil proceedings are aimed at securing damages. The defamation case filed by Louise Khurshid against the India Today group, for instance, demands damages to the tune of Rs 1 crore. Had she sought higher damages, she would have had to pay a higher court fee. There is no such financial liability in the case of criminal proceedings — the route chosen by Nitin Gadkari in his case against Digvijay Singh. That defamation case is aimed at securing Singh’s conviction years. The criminal offence of defamation is non-cognizable. This means that nobody can lodge an FIR; it can only be initiated as a complaint in a court. It is also a bailable offence. Whether the proceedings are civil or criminal, the cause of action can be the same statement. There is a difference, however, in what need to be legally proved in each proceedings. 
 
What is the burden of proof in the two kinds of defamation proceedings? 
    In a civil case of defamation, the plaintiff will first have to prove that the statement in question, besides being published, was false and damaging to his reputation. As a corollary, truth is a complete defense against a defamation suit for damages. When it comes to criminal defamation, the accused has to establish that his statement was “substantially true” and was for the public good. Then, the accused would have countered the charge of acting out of malice. 
 
    How does the defense of truth come into play when the allegedly defamatory statement is not so much about facts as opinion? 
    When an opinion is the subject of litigation, the defendant will have to show that he had acted in good faith. The Indian Penal Code is liberal enough to provide such a defense especially when it comes to criticizing public servants. One of the exceptions in Section 499 IPC says: “It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever respecting the conduct of a public servant in the discharge of his public functions, or respecting his character, so far as his character appears in that conduct.” Thus, fair criticism is allowed when it is for the greater common good. 
 
    What is libel? And what is slander? 
    Libel is the publication of a defamatory statement in a permanent form (especially in print or electronic media) while slander refers to defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing or pictures.



Source::: The Times of India, 22-10-2012, 11. 
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