Madhya Pradesh: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has delivered a significant ruling on the scope of defamation in WhatsApp group conversations, clarifying that merely agreeing with or supporting a potentially defamatory post does not necessarily constitute involvement in the offence of defamation.
Justice Subodh Abhyankar heard a petition filed by retired Air Marshal Harish Masand, challenging lower court orders that refused to take cognizance of his complaint against certain housing society members whom he had accused of defamation.
The court noted that the case originated from a dispute in a housing society’s WhatsApp group, where the petitioner alleged defamatory posts were made against him.
Examining the WhatsApp chats, Justice Abhyankar observed, “It is found that in the entire text of the WhatsApp group, only two persons, namely Sandeep Gupta and Lt. Col. Jagdish Pahuja, have expressed their views in detail, whereas the other persons have made only passing remarks, agreeing with Sandeep Gupta and Lt. Col. Jagdish Pahuja.”
The court held that while expressing agreement with a post through a one-liner may amount to agreeing with the expression, the context and purpose of the WhatsApp group must be considered. Justice Abhyankar stated, “This Court is also required to see the conversation in the WhatsApp group in its entirety, and has to see the context in which it is made, and also the purpose for which the WhatsApp group was formed.”
Emphasizing the importance of intent, the court observed, “These comments appear to have been made without any premeditation, and on the spur of the moment only. They appear to have been made without any intention of defaming the petitioner, and in such circumstances, they cannot be held liable for the long posts which are made by only two members of the said group.”
In conclusion, the court found no illegality in the lower courts’ decisions to take cognizance only against the two accused persons who had made detailed posts, while not proceeding against others who had merely agreed or made brief comments.
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