Responding to the lawsuit filed by Natco against SpicyIP founder Shamnad Basheer in which the drug company has asked for a permanent injunction and Rs 25,00,000 in damages for allegedly publishing defamatory and libelous statements about it, the Intellectual Property focused blog has questioned the merits of the case and has defended Basheer's right to freedom of speech. Defamation Charges For Stating One's Opinion? In a blogpost on SpicyIP, Prashant Reddy, a SpicyIP member, writes that to establish the defamation charges, Natco has to prove that Shamnad's statements were false and that it had faced damages due to these false statements. However, he notes that Natco has neither denied any of Basheer's statements nor has it provided any alternative explanation as to why these statements were allegedly defamatory for Natco. Instead, it had just focused on how these statements lowered the company's reputation in the public eye. He notes that Natco cannot sue Basheer or anyone else just because they point out Natco's faults and highlighted contradictory statements made by Natco in the court, to the general public. No Details on individuals: Natco had claimed that several government officials, doctors and patients had approached the company questioning it as to how it could be involved in such malpractice,following the publication of these articles. It had also claimed that these articles had deeply shaken the faith of patients who were currently taking Natco's drugs. However, Reddy points out that Natco has not provided any details on these individuals or has pointed out how Shamnad's statements had any…
