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CS Executive · Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws · Law of Torts

Meera writes a private letter containing defamatory remarks about Kiran and sends it sealed to Kiran alone. No one else reads it. Kiran sues Meera for defamation. Which element of the tort is missing?

The missing element is publication to a third person. Defamation requires that the defamatory statement be communicated to someone other than the plaintiff. Since only Kiran read the sealed letter, no publication occurred, and a civil action in tort fails on that ground.

  1. AFalsity of the statement
  2. BPublication to a third personCorrect
  3. CReference to the plaintiff
  4. DIntention to cause injury

Explanation

Publication means communication of the defamatory matter to at least one person other than the plaintiff. A letter read only by the plaintiff is not published, so the tort of defamation is incomplete. Reference to the plaintiff is present since the letter concerns Kiran. Intention is not an essential element of civil defamation.

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