[India Today's Mission Misconduct] Supreme Court allows Aroon Purie's appeal; Rejects Journalist's plea

Today, a Supreme Court bench of CJI UU Lalit, Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice Bela M Trivedi, allowed India Today Chairperson, Aroon Purie's appeal challenging the Delhi High Court's order, where the Court had refused to quash the defamation complaint against him. The plea sought by the public servants was also allowed.

However, the Court while pronouncing the judgment allowed Aroon Purie's appeal, but dismissed journalist, Saurabh Shukla's plea. Saurabh Shukla, authored the article Mission Misconduct, which is under question.

Background: The Supreme Court, earlier, had reserved its order in Aroon Purie's appeal challenging the criminal defamation complaint against him, and seeking it be to quashed.

A bench of the Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi heard the plea challenging the Delhi High Court's order wherein the High Court refused to quash criminal defamation complaint against India Today's, Editor-in-Chief stating that the assertions that news item merely reported facts which were accurate and reflected public records and cannot be held to be defamatory, could not be accepted. "Rather such an assertion and who was responsible for its publication and has it come to the fore of editors require critical examination and hence evidence of these issues is required," the High Court had held.

Case Title: Aroon Purie Vs. State of NCT of Delhi & Ors.