Branding Someone as Terrorist Associate Amounts to Defamation: Jammu and Kashmir High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently ruled that falsely portraying a person as having links with terrorists or describing him as an overground worker for militants directly harms his reputation in society and constitutes criminal defamation under Section 499 IPC punishable under Section 500 IPC. The observation was made by Justice Sanjay Dhar while deciding a petition filed by newspaper representatives seeking quashing of criminal defamation proceedings.…