HC quashes defamation case against former Ernakulam MP

The Kerala High Court has quashed a criminal defamation case filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Taliparamba, against former Ernakulam MP and High Court lawyer Sebastian Paul in connection with a speech made by him in 2016 in the wake of the standoff between lawyers and journalists.

The defamation case was filed by P.R. Ashokan, a lawyer from Taliparamaba. According to him, the former MP had compared the lawyer community with street dogs which was published and telecasted by the print and visual media.

Justice G. Gireesh, while recently allowing a petition filed by Mr. Paul, observed that the petitioner did not refer to the entire lawyer community while making the alleged disparaging remarks in the controversial speech. On the other hand, what had been mentioned by him was the so-called violent behaviour displayed by a group of lawyers who were involved in the fight with journalists. Thus the controversial remarks made by the petitioner in his speech “cannot be said to be one intended to denigrate the entire lawyer community.”

Published - December 16, 2024 08:24 pm IST