Defamation

Hello, Greetings of the day!

A statement may be prima facie defamatory and that is so when its natural and obvious meaning leads to that conclusion. Sometimes, the statement may prima facie be innocent but because of some latent or secondary meaning, it may be considered to be defamatory. When the natural and ordinary meaning is not defamatory but the plaintiff wants to bring an action for defamation, he must prove the latent or the secondary meaning, i.e., the innuendo, which makes the statement defamatory.

Case Law-  In Morrison v. Ritihie & Co.,the defendants in good faith published a mistaken statement that the plaintiff had given birth to twins. The plaintiff had been married only two months back. Even though the defendants were ignorant of this fact, they were held liable.

Source- RK Bangia 

Hope it helps

Regards,

Sneha Jaiswal