CHENNAI: A lawyer, who represents a client, cannot be prosecuted for defamation in respect of the statements made on the basis of what is fed to him by the latter, the Madras High Court has held.
“A lawyer speaks on behalf of another (person). Naturally, beyond the instructions given by the client, a lawyer has no opportunity to verify the truth or falsity of the facts narrated. Therefore, no lawyer can be prosecuted for defamation in respect of any statements made based on the instruction given by the client,” said Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan recently while quashing a defamation case pending in the judicial magistrate court in Tiruvallur against an advocate.
It is the duty of the lawyer to decide whether he can properly act upon such instructions. Whatever responsibility may arise from acting upon them would rest with the client alone, the judge added.
Any contrary view would be opposed to the settled trend of judicial decisions defining the scope and extent of the privilege conferred upon a lawyer, the judge noted.
The matter pertains to a defamation suit moved by the husband of the advocate’s client. The client had filed a divorce petition in the family court in Chennai. He alleged that his estranged wife, with assistance of the lawyer, had lodged a complaint against him under the Pocso Act. The judicial magistrate court-I in Tiruvallur had taken cognisance of the defamation complaint.