The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing a petition filed by ex-JNU professor Amita Singh against the Delhi High Court order quashing summonses against The Wire editor and deputy editor over an article allegedly claiming that Singh prepared a dossier calling the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) a “den of organised sex racket”.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia adjourned the hearing till February 13, saying that the issue requires time to be heard and farm fires have taken up a lot of time today.
In 2016, Singh filed a complaint alleging that an article written by The Wire’s Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprastha in April 2016 titled “Dossier Call JNU ‘Den of Organised Sex Racket’; Students, Professors Allege Hate Campaign”, implied that she prepared a dossier that depicted JNU as a den of organised sex racket.
Singh in her defamation complaint alleged that the Editor did not verify the authenticity of the Dossier and used it for monetary benefits of its magazine.
She has further alleged that the accused have started a hate campaign against her. In 2017, following her complaint, a summoning order was passed against the Wire’s Editor Siddharth Bhatia, and Deputy Editor Ajoy Ashirwad by a Delhi court.
However, in March 2023, the Delhi High Court quashed the summoning order observing that there is nothing that could be considered to be defamatory against Singh. The court will resume hearing in February 2024.
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