Date: 1 April 2026
TO:
Vikram Sethi, an individual
House No. 301, Sector 22, Chandigarh 160022
FROM:
Neha Kapoor, an individual
House No. 88, Sector 9, Chandigarh 160009
Phone: 98765 43210
Email: neha.kapoor@example.com
SUBJECT: Notice for defamation — demand for retraction and apology and damages
Dear Sir / Madam,
1.1 The Recipient made, published or caused to be published the following statement concerning the Sender, by way of spoken words (slander): ""Neha Kapoor cheated her business partners and ran away with the company's money — everyone in the market knows she cannot be trusted.""
1.2 The statement was published as follows: Posted on the Recipient's public Facebook profile on 2 August 2026, visible to over 4,000 followers including several of the Sender's clients, and shared further by at least 30 other accounts before being taken down on 6 August 2026.
2.1 The Sender has never been accused of, investigated for, or found liable for any dishonesty by any client, partner, authority or court. The Sender's partnership with the persons referred to was dissolved by mutual written agreement dated 10 June 2026, on ordinary commercial terms, with accounts settled in full.
2.2 As a direct result, the Sender has suffered the following harm: Two prospective clients have cancelled engagements citing the post, and several existing clients have raised questions about the Sender's integrity, causing serious damage to the Sender's professional reputation and standing in the business community.
2.3 For context: The Sender and Recipient were business partners until the partnership was dissolved on 10 June 2026.
3.1 The Sender calls upon the Recipient, within 7 days of receipt of this notice, to give an unconditional written retraction and apology, in terms approved by the Sender, published with equal prominence to the original statement.
3.2 The Sender further calls upon the Recipient to pay damages of ₹5,00,000 (Rupees Five Lakh only) for the injury to reputation already caused.
3.3 Additionally, the Sender requires a written undertaking not to repeat the statement or any similar statement in future.
4.1 Publication of a false and defamatory statement concerning a person, to a third person, without lawful justification or excuse, is actionable in a civil suit for damages and for an injunction restraining further publication.
4.2 It is also an offence of defamation under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which corresponds to Sections 499 and 500 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, 1860, and is punishable with simple imprisonment, fine, community service, or a combination of these. Truth is ordinarily a complete defence to a civil claim in defamation; whether an exception to Section 356 applies on these facts — including where an imputation is true and its publication is for the public good — is a question for legal advice, and nothing in this notice is to be read as a concluded view on it.