M G PERERA Vs. ANDREW VINCENT PEIRIS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal from the judgment of the Supreme Court of Ceylon affirming the dismissal by the District Court of Colombo of an action brought by the appellant Dr. M. G. Perera' in which he claimed damages for defamatory libel from the respondents who are the printer and owners of a newspaper called. The Ceylon Daily News. The libel complained of appeared in the issue of that paper of 25 May 1943, and consisted of an extract from the published report of a Commissioner who had been appointed under statutory powers to enquire into certain matters. The extract ran as follows : "Dr. M. G. Perera who gave evidence was completely lacking in frankness and pretended that he knew very much less about the transaction than he actually did."

(2.) The respondents took all defences. They denied that the words were defamatory-a formal defence in the circumstances. The other defences were not formal. They pleaded justification in the sense that the statement was true and that its publication was for the public benefit. Fair comment was pleaded. Privilege was relied on soon two grounds, first, that the proceedings before the Commissioner were judicial proceedings and the extract was part of an accurate report of those proceedings, and second, that, apart from the supposed judicial nature of the proceedings, the circumstances were such that the publication in the newspaper of the report was made on a privileged occasion. Neither the pleadings, the issues settled in the course of the proceedings, nor the conduct of the case at the trial, in any way limited the field of defence open to the respondents.

(3.) On the settlement of the issues in the action it was made clear that the appellant did not set up express malice with a view to destroying any qualified privilege that might exist.