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Public Apology More Fitting Than Monetary Compensation In Defamation Cases

Disposing of a two decade old defamation suit, the High Court of Delhi in Tosiba Appliances Co. Pvt. Ltd. vs Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba & Others opined that public apology is a more fitting relief than monetary damages in defamation cases.

“..I may also record that in my opinion, the harm done by defamation being to the reputation of a person, a direction to issue a public apology or a direction to correctthe errors, if any, particularly in defamation arising out of libel by media appears to be a more appropriate relief than a relief of monetary damages. Compensation in monetary damages can never set the record straight or restore the damaged reputation caused by a libelous news report. The person aggrieved by a libelous news
report having a large circulation can never exactly know who all have had access thereto and cannot possibly go to each and every one of those persons with the judgment of award of compensation to him,” Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw observed.

“Reputation of an individual is not something which can be measured or equated in money. It is only a written apology contained in the same media which may reach the same people who may have had access to the libelous material earlier published and that alone can restore the reputation,” the Judge added.

Article referred: http://www.livelaw.in/public-apology-fitting-monetary-compensation-defamation-cases-delhi-hc/

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