Email Defamation – Legal Advice

987 votes

Yes, you may have legal remedies for defamation. Calling a person a “fraud” or “criminal” and making allegations that he extracts money in the name of cancer/animals, if false and communicated to a third person, may constitute defamation. Since another person was added in CC, the element of publication to a third party also requires examination. Under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, defamatory imputations may attract criminal liability, subject to the statutory exceptions. Civil remedies for protection of reputation and damages may also be considered depending upon the facts and evidence. Preserve the complete email chain, including headers, your original request for support, the reply containing the allegations, and documents establishing the genuine nature of your Odisha motorcycle awareness journey. A legal notice can initially be issued demanding withdrawal/retraction of the defamatory allegations, a written apology and an undertaking against further publication. If the matter is not resolved, appropriate civil and/or criminal defamation proceedings can be considered. The complete email correspondence should be legally reviewed before initiating proceedings, particularly to assess publication, falsity, reputational harm, jurisdiction and any possible defence available to the sender.

Advocate Madhumita Chand LawRato

605 votes

Here is a simple 200-word version, written so that a non-lawyer can understand it easily: You have a reasonable legal basis to ask the person who made these statements to take them back, apologise, and compensate you for the harm caused to your reputation. If someone falsely calls you a “criminal” or “fraud” and shares those allegations with other people without proper proof, it may amount to defamation under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Whether it is legally defamatory will depend on the exact words used and the circumstances. The fact that the email was copied to another person is important because the allegation was communicated to someone other than you. This may be treated as publication, which is an important part of a defamation case. You can first send a legal notice asking the person to: 1. Immediately withdraw the false allegations. 2. Give you an unconditional written apology. 3. Send the apology to everyone who received the original allegation. 4. Stop making or sharing similar allegations in the future. 5. Pay reasonable compensation for the damage caused to your reputation, where legally justified. You should also safely keep the original email, full email header, date, time, sender, CC recipients, attachments, and all related messages. These records may be important evidence. If the person refuses to comply, you can consider taking appropriate legal action before the competent court.

Advocate Benjamin Sishu LawRato