New Delhi: Expressing its exasperation at the rising use of criminal defamation, the Supreme Court on Monday observed that “the time has come" to look into decriminalising the colonial-era law.

The bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma made the remark saying the law was being used by individuals and political parties to “get even". “I think time has come to decriminalise all this…" Justice Sundresh said.

Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) criminalises defamation. It replaced Section 499 — the earlier provision for criminal defamation — under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Criminal defamation in the BNS is defined as an “imputation concerning any person intending to harm or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person" through “words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes in any manner".

The SC was hearing a petition challenging summons issued to online news portal The Wire in connection with a defamation case filed by Prof Amita Singh of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). It issued a notice to the professor on a plea moved by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which runs The Wire.

The court questioned how long this case will be dragged since it was registered in 2016. “How long will you go on dragging this?" it was quoted.

Singh had filed this defamation case against The Wire in 2016, following which a magistrate had issued summons to the news website in February 2017. Last year, the top court set aside the summons and asked the magistrate to take a fresh call in the matter. The magistrate, however, once again issued summons to The Wire in January this year, which was upheld by the Delhi High Court on May 7.

In 2016, however, the top court had upheld the constitutional validity of the criminal defamation section under the IPC after it was challenged by politicians including Subramanian Swamy, Rahul Gandhi, and Arvind Kejriwal. India remains one of the few democratic countries where defamation is a criminal offence while most others provide for civil remedy.