The Ambani’s and Defamation

The Longest Constitution with Priya Mirza

Have you read The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani? Chances are, not! While pirated copies may be in circulation, this episode of The Longest Constitution looks at the Ambani's filed an injunction against the book’s publishers. This is not unusual. Private and powerful corporations and individuals have used the clause of defamation, both under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India, as well as the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to obstruct the publication of a book of public interest, with success. We also look at how much a candidate can spend in an election campaign and the laws related to that. Plus, we examine the growth of the PIL in the 1980s looking at a very pertinent case: air pollution in New Delhi.

Reading material:

1. On the Ambanis and the injunction against The Polyester Prince:

1. https://www.rediff.com/money/2000/jul/26dalal.htm

2. https://theprint.in/features/remembering-dhirubhai-ambani-the-polyester-prince-who-made-himself-king-of-india-inc/169949/

3. Bhatia, Gautam, 2016, Offend, Shock, or Disturb: Free Speech under the Indian Constitution, New Delhi: OUP. Chapter 8.

2. On PIL’s and air pollution:

1. Baviskar, Amita, 2006, “Rethinking Indian Environmentalism Industrial Pollution in Delhi and Fisheries in Kerala, in (ed), Forging Environmentalism

2. Justice, Livelihood, and Contested Environments, New York: ME Sharpe.

3. Divan, Shyam and Armin Rosencraz, (ed) (2001), Environmental law and policy in India, New Delhi: OUP. Chapter 13.

3. On campaign finance laws:

1. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/680015/

2. Sondhi, Aditya, “Elections”, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, OUP: New Delhi.

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