Goa, Sept. 22 -- The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the time has come to decriminalise defamation, marking a significant shift from its 2016 ruling that upheld the constitutional validity of criminal defamation laws. The 2016 judgment had held that the right to reputation falls under the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Court made the remark while hearing a plea challenging a summons issued to The Wire in a criminal defamation case filed by a JNU professor. The case stemmed from a 2016 news article alleging the professor's involvement in compiling a controversial 200-page dossier titled "Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Den of Secessionism and Terrorism", which called JNU a "den of or...