Assam journalist who ‘defamed’ MLA gets bail from Gauhati High Court

On May 21, 2026, an FIR was lodged against a journalist alleging that he had been running a malicious campaign to defame Lumding BJP MLA and the BJP instead of reporting with prejudice.

Justice Sanjeev Kumar Sharma granted bail to a journalist who was in jail for 20 days.

The complaint further stated that the journalist used abusive language against the MLA family, attempted to do so, and that he played a political campaigner rather than a neutral journalist. Additionally, the FIR also alleged that he extorted money from the betel nut and drug mafias by threatening to report them to the police.

It was also mentioned in the complaint that it is a common public perception that the petitioner has no visible source of income, but he leads a very luxurious life with a costly car, two wheelers, several mobile phones and other luxury items. Based on these allegations, police registered a case under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and arrested him.

Advocate S C Biswas, appearing for the journalist, had submitted that the FIR is nothing but an attempt to stifle the freedom of the press and to prevent him from carrying out his work as a journalist. 

It was submitted that the petitioner had been victimised for highlighting certain acts of the informant, and the whole action in lodging the instant FIR is motivated by reasons which are not bona fide. 

Journalist behind bars for 20 days 

Referring to the case diary and the investigating officer’s objections, the additional public prosecutor argued that the petitioner had been attempting to influence witnesses. 

The court noted that witness statements had been recorded and that the petitioner had spent 20 days behind bars in the case, while the investigation had also progressed.

Considering the material on record, the court held that the petitioner’s further detention was unwarranted and granted him bail on a bond of ₹50,000 with a surety of the like amount, to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hojai. It also directed him not to contact or intimidate any witness.

Allowing bail to the journalist, the bench directed him to furnish a Rs 50,000 bond with a surety of the same amount with the Hojai magisterial court. The petitioner was directed not to contact or intimidate the witness as a bail condition.

‘Editors beware’

Earlier, in a ruling, the Kerala High Court ruled that editors can face criminal defamation charges for republishing derogatory statements sourced from social media, while refusing to quash proceedings against a magazine that reproduced alleged defamatory remarks against actor-director Mahesh P Nair.

Justice G Girish was hearing a plea by the editors of Vellinakshatram seeking to quash the defamation case against them over republishing a post with alleged derogatory remarks against an actor on their website. The editors claimed that the remarks in question had already reached the public through social media.

The editors, by quoting the derogatory words from a social media post by the director Baiju Kottarakkara on their website, have committed the act of publishing highly defamatory content, capable of harming the reputation of Mahesh, the court held on March 9.

Unless the act of the editors comes under any of the seven exceptions envisaged under Section 499 (criminal defamation) of the IPC, the editors cannot be absolved of the criminal liability for the publication of the derogatory words, the court said.

The case arose from the publication made by the editors on their website, which contained an imputation harming the reputation of a person. Later, the magistrate court took the complaint on file, recorded the defamed person’s statement and issued a summons to the accused to appear and face trial for the commission of an offence under IPC Section 500.