The Supreme Court has ruled that homebuyers have the right to peacefully protest against builders without it being considered defamation.

A bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh quashed a criminal defamation case against homebuyers who erected banners expressing dissatisfaction with a builder's services. The court held that as long as protests are peaceful and language used is temperate, such actions fall under the right to free speech and protest as per Article 19 of the Constitution. It stated that portraying peaceful protests as criminal defamation is an abuse of legal process. The judgment emphasized that expressing grievances in a business relationship, like that of a builder and buyer, is a protected right when done in good faith.