Defamation Law: Subramanian Swamy takes dig at Achhe Din to prove point in court

NEW DELHI: BJP member Dr Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday took a huge swipe at the Modi government's refusal to de-criminalise defamation, arguing that even joking or lampooning 'achhe din', as promised by the BJP in the run-up to elections, would attract criminal prosecution under the law as it stood today.

Swamy opened arguments on a host of petitions filed by the likes of political leaders such as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, against retaining Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code on the statute book.

He read out portions of the government's affidavit in open court and tore into it saying it was strange to say the least.

“The government has said that a person (defaming anybody) may not be able to pay. Hence criminal defamation is an appropriate remedy. This paucity of funds is a strange argument," he told a bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and P.C. Pant.

"To defame someone, a person must (be presumed to) have the status to do so. He can't be that low in the social order," Swamy said. He was arguing against the law being retained on the statute book long after even the colonial rulers, who had introduced it in the IPC, had junked it.