The Supreme Court has issued directions to the Jawaharlal Nehru University to verify if any dossier, which allegedly depicted the varsity as a “den of organised sex racket”, was ever submitted by a professor. The court was hearing a petition against a Delhi high court order that had set aside summons issued to the editor and deputy editor of the Wire, according to a PTI report.
The high court had granted relief to the portal in March in a criminal defamation case filed by Amita Singh, professor and chairperson of the Centre for Study of Law and Governance at JNU.
The court had said the dossier exposed wrongful activities and that Singh was leading a team of people who compiled the document. It also said it was unable to understand how the article could have defamed the complainant when the report “nowhere says that the respondent (Singh) is involved in the wrongful activities, nor does it make any other derogatory reference to her in connection therewith”.
On Monday, a bench comprising Justice S K Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notices to the JNU vice-chancellor and the editor and deputy editor of the Wire, according to PTI.
“Issue notice. We would also like JNU, through vice-chancellor, to verify if any dossier was submitted at all, to what effect and by whom? Notice be issued to JNU in this limited aspect,” the bench noted, according to PTI.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
