Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, cognizance of the offence of defamation under…

The ordinary rule in section 222(1) of the BNSS (formerly section 199(1) CrPC) requires a complaint by some person aggrieved by the defamation punishable under section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. A police report or the court's own initiative does not replace that requirement. The proviso to section 222(1) permits a representative complaint in specified cases with the leave of the court; subsection (2) creates a special Public Prosecutor complaint procedure for specified office-holders defamed in respect of their public functions.