A Maharashtra government committee has recommended amending the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to include defamatory social media posts under criminal law, the Indian Express reported. The committee was formed in May 2026 to explore legal options for addressing defamatory online content and has submitted its recommendations to the state Law and Judiciary Department.
The panel, led by Maharashtra’s Director General of Police and including secretaries from the Law and Judiciary, IT, and Women and Child Development departments, considered amending the Maharashtra Police Act or the IT Act but ultimately preferred the BNS amendment. Sources told The Indian Express that the BNS amendment would provide stronger legal footing if challenged in courts, as it is on the Concurrent List, unlike the IT Act which is a central law and cannot be amended by the state.
The BNS currently defines defamation but does not explicitly cover online content. The committee’s proposal includes safeguards to address concerns raised by the Supreme Court when it struck down Section 66A of the IT Act in 2015. Officials said the drafting will consider those past shortcomings to ensure the amendment withstands judicial scrutiny, aiming to balance regulation of defamatory social media posts with constitutional protections.
The committee’s recommendations mark a significant step in Maharashtra’s approach to online defamation. The state government is now reviewing the proposal, which could lead to formal amendments to the BNS, potentially making Maharashtra one of the first states to explicitly criminalize defamatory social media content under its own law.