Procedure to reply to a defamation legal notice
I have divided the above title in two parts for reader's convenience. So firstly we will understand purpose of a Legal Notice.
A Legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing him that you intend to undertake legal proceedings against an individual. It is a step taken before filing a suit, and is meant to warn the other party that legal action may be taken against an individual, if an individual fails to comply with some specified condition.
Procedure to send a Legal notice
Engaging a qualified lawyer helps in drafting the legal-notice. Extreme care is taken about the choice of words and language used and measures of caution about not admitting any fact which you may later be denied in a court of law. Once the legal notice is dispatched then you cannot make any changes in that and later on also you cannot make any contradictory statement from what you have already stated in a legal notice. The Notice is sent on a plain paper or on the letterhead of the lawyer.
Step I: Consult a lawyer who has good drafting skills, the notice can be sent in any Indian Language, usually English is been the preferred. The notice should be addressed to the person against whom you have the grievances.
Step II: In your conselling session with the lawyer, please explain the information in detail with names of parties involved; address, dates when commitments were made and not honored, challenges and issues faced, any previous attempts of dialogue etc.
Step III: The lawyer carefully studies your information as stated, makes relevant and required notes in the conversation with you and seeks any additional information if required.
Step IV: The lawyer then drafts the notice in a legal language clearly mentioning the reason for sending the notice, all previous communications regarding the cause of notice and offers the addressee a reasonable time to reply within 15 days or 30 days or 60 days to settle the matter by negotiating and by performing the desired action.
Depending on the grievance usually the lawyers on behalf of the client sending the notice stress for an action to be performed in the stipulated period of time to either fulfills the demand or seeks a reply.
Step V: The notice is duly signed by both the client and the lawyer and is either sent via Registered Post or Courier and ensure the acknowledgement is retained. Usually a copy of the notice is retained by the lawyer.
Step VI: The expectation is after the notice is received by the other party; he/she will reply back.
Steps to follow if you have received a legal notice :-
Step I: If you find that the notice sent or the information in the notice is not accurate or need to contest and need legal help, approach a qualified lawyer who can take necessary actions. The first step after reaching the lawyer is to share your side of the story and the facts with date and time when the events occurred so that the lawyer will review the notice you have received and will draft a reply based on the facts collected from you.
Step II: The lawyer will send the reply to the notice via courier or registered post. A copy of the notice sent and received both are retained in the lawyer office along with the acknowledgement receipts or all communications. Your lawyer will also in sometimes communicate with the lawyer of the other party to enable a smooth flow and try resolving matters at your end.
Note:- The exchange of legal notices usually results in the commencement of litigation between the parties as the party sending the notice may take recourse to civil/criminal law remedies.
Important Points:-
a. The party being served with the lawsuit / notice is called “the respondent” or “defendant”. A legal notice may be responded to only if it has merit and needs to be replied to.
b. One of the simplest reasons to understand why legal notices are used deals with fairness. It is possible that the notice sent by the plaintiff may not reach the respondent, this can be due to change in address location or information about the respondent is not available to the plaintiff.
c. If the notice has substance and the facts stated therein, if litigated against in the court would go against you, then do consult a qualified and reputed lawyer who practices in the issues related to the notice being sent and discuss with him / her. For illustration, if the notice is with respect to property disputes, then consult a civil lawyer, or if family disputes, then consult a lawyer who practices family law and hence likewise you can consult a specialized lawyer from a particular field.
d. Leave it to your lawyer whether or not to reply the notice. Your initial consultation with the lawyer will help you understand if it is required to reply or not or what are the right steps to resolve the issue at hand.
e. In case the notice is converted into a legal suit then it is mandatory for you to respond. Ensure all your facts are in place so that the next steps by your lawyer are advised in due course of action.
f. Legal notices are a vital principle of the courts providing fairness and due process by giving all parties affected by the lawsuit or legal proceeding notice of the legal procedure. No party can operate in secret and all court actions must be apparent to all parties to the case.
What is Defamation?
Defamation is oral or written statement that hurts someone’s reputation. Reputation is an integral and important part of the dignity of the individual and Right to reputation is inherent right guaranteed by Article 21 and it is also called as natural rights. While Rights of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution of India is not absolute and has imposed reasonable restrictions for exercising rights in the interest of the security of state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, morality, contempt of court, defamation. Only Defamation Laws protect individual’s private interest and reputation.
In India, Defamation can be viewed as a civil offence as well as criminal offence and may be defined as the writing, publication and speaking of a false statement which causes injury to reputation and good name for private interest. The remedy for a civil defamation is covered under Law of Torts. In civil defamation, a victim can move high court or subordinate courts for seeking damages in the form of monetary compensation from accused. Section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code provides an opportunity to the victim to file a criminal case for defamation against the accused. Punishment for the guilty person for criminal defamation is simple imprisonment which may extend to two years or fine or both. Under the criminal law, it is bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable offence.
Constitutional validity of Section 499 & 500 of Indian Penal Code
In some countries, defamation laws are not criminal laws. Therefore, whether section 499 & 500 of IPC is constitutionally valid? Recently, the Supreme Court in Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India upheld constitutional validity of defamation laws and ruling that they are not in conflict with the right of speech. Apex court also said that one is bound to tolerate criticism, dissent and discordance but not expected to tolerate defamatory attack.
Elements of Defamation and its exception
Defamation statement must be in a spoken or written or published or visible manner and must be false and injured directly or indirectly to the reputation of an individual or his family members or caste and lowers the moral of the victim and statement is unprivileged statements. Following Statements can’t be considered as defamation
Any truth statement made in public interest;
Any opinion given by the public in respect of conduct of a public servant in discharge of his functions, his character appears;
Conduct of any person touching any public question;
Publication of any proceedings of courts of justice including any trial of court and judgment.
So, with the above mentioned information related to Defamation, an individual can easily arrive to a conclusion that what kind of charges the other party is alleging and does it really holds any ground, and then accordingly with excellent drafting skills on his own or by consulting a lawyer, you can reply the notice related to defamation charges levied against you in an amicable manner.
A Legal notice is a formal communication to a person or entity informing him that you intend to undertake legal proceedings against an individual. It is a step taken before filing a suit, and is meant to warn the other party that legal action may be taken against an individual, if an individual fails to comply with some specified condition.
Procedure to send a Legal notice
Engaging a qualified lawyer helps in drafting the legal-notice. Extreme care is taken about the choice of words and language used and measures of caution about not admitting any fact which you may later be denied in a court of law. Once the legal notice is dispatched then you cannot make any changes in that and later on also you cannot make any contradictory statement from what you have already stated in a legal notice. The Notice is sent on a plain paper or on the letterhead of the lawyer.
Step I: Consult a lawyer who has good drafting skills, the notice can be sent in any Indian Language, usually English is been the preferred. The notice should be addressed to the person against whom you have the grievances.
Step II: In your conselling session with the lawyer, please explain the information in detail with names of parties involved; address, dates when commitments were made and not honored, challenges and issues faced, any previous attempts of dialogue etc.
Step III: The lawyer carefully studies your information as stated, makes relevant and required notes in the conversation with you and seeks any additional information if required.
Step IV: The lawyer then drafts the notice in a legal language clearly mentioning the reason for sending the notice, all previous communications regarding the cause of notice and offers the addressee a reasonable time to reply within 15 days or 30 days or 60 days to settle the matter by negotiating and by performing the desired action.
Depending on the grievance usually the lawyers on behalf of the client sending the notice stress for an action to be performed in the stipulated period of time to either fulfills the demand or seeks a reply.
Step V: The notice is duly signed by both the client and the lawyer and is either sent via Registered Post or Courier and ensure the acknowledgement is retained. Usually a copy of the notice is retained by the lawyer.
Step VI: The expectation is after the notice is received by the other party; he/she will reply back.
Steps to follow if you have received a legal notice :-
Step I: If you find that the notice sent or the information in the notice is not accurate or need to contest and need legal help, approach a qualified lawyer who can take necessary actions. The first step after reaching the lawyer is to share your side of the story and the facts with date and time when the events occurred so that the lawyer will review the notice you have received and will draft a reply based on the facts collected from you.
Step II: The lawyer will send the reply to the notice via courier or registered post. A copy of the notice sent and received both are retained in the lawyer office along with the acknowledgement receipts or all communications. Your lawyer will also in sometimes communicate with the lawyer of the other party to enable a smooth flow and try resolving matters at your end.
Note:- The exchange of legal notices usually results in the commencement of litigation between the parties as the party sending the notice may take recourse to civil/criminal law remedies.
Important Points:-
a. The party being served with the lawsuit / notice is called “the respondent” or “defendant”. A legal notice may be responded to only if it has merit and needs to be replied to.
b. One of the simplest reasons to understand why legal notices are used deals with fairness. It is possible that the notice sent by the plaintiff may not reach the respondent, this can be due to change in address location or information about the respondent is not available to the plaintiff.
c. If the notice has substance and the facts stated therein, if litigated against in the court would go against you, then do consult a qualified and reputed lawyer who practices in the issues related to the notice being sent and discuss with him / her. For illustration, if the notice is with respect to property disputes, then consult a civil lawyer, or if family disputes, then consult a lawyer who practices family law and hence likewise you can consult a specialized lawyer from a particular field.
d. Leave it to your lawyer whether or not to reply the notice. Your initial consultation with the lawyer will help you understand if it is required to reply or not or what are the right steps to resolve the issue at hand.
e. In case the notice is converted into a legal suit then it is mandatory for you to respond. Ensure all your facts are in place so that the next steps by your lawyer are advised in due course of action.
f. Legal notices are a vital principle of the courts providing fairness and due process by giving all parties affected by the lawsuit or legal proceeding notice of the legal procedure. No party can operate in secret and all court actions must be apparent to all parties to the case.
What is Defamation?
Defamation is oral or written statement that hurts someone’s reputation. Reputation is an integral and important part of the dignity of the individual and Right to reputation is inherent right guaranteed by Article 21 and it is also called as natural rights. While Rights of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution of India is not absolute and has imposed reasonable restrictions for exercising rights in the interest of the security of state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, morality, contempt of court, defamation. Only Defamation Laws protect individual’s private interest and reputation.
In India, Defamation can be viewed as a civil offence as well as criminal offence and may be defined as the writing, publication and speaking of a false statement which causes injury to reputation and good name for private interest. The remedy for a civil defamation is covered under Law of Torts. In civil defamation, a victim can move high court or subordinate courts for seeking damages in the form of monetary compensation from accused. Section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code provides an opportunity to the victim to file a criminal case for defamation against the accused. Punishment for the guilty person for criminal defamation is simple imprisonment which may extend to two years or fine or both. Under the criminal law, it is bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable offence.
Constitutional validity of Section 499 & 500 of Indian Penal Code
In some countries, defamation laws are not criminal laws. Therefore, whether section 499 & 500 of IPC is constitutionally valid? Recently, the Supreme Court in Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India upheld constitutional validity of defamation laws and ruling that they are not in conflict with the right of speech. Apex court also said that one is bound to tolerate criticism, dissent and discordance but not expected to tolerate defamatory attack.
Elements of Defamation and its exception
Defamation statement must be in a spoken or written or published or visible manner and must be false and injured directly or indirectly to the reputation of an individual or his family members or caste and lowers the moral of the victim and statement is unprivileged statements. Following Statements can’t be considered as defamation
Any truth statement made in public interest;
Any opinion given by the public in respect of conduct of a public servant in discharge of his functions, his character appears;
Conduct of any person touching any public question;
Publication of any proceedings of courts of justice including any trial of court and judgment.
So, with the above mentioned information related to Defamation, an individual can easily arrive to a conclusion that what kind of charges the other party is alleging and does it really holds any ground, and then accordingly with excellent drafting skills on his own or by consulting a lawyer, you can reply the notice related to defamation charges levied against you in an amicable manner.
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