Volume 28, the term 'defamatory statement' has been defined as “a statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right thinking members of the society generally or to cause him to be shunned or avoided or to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to convey an imputation on him disparaging or injurious to him in his office, profession, calling trade or business”. 32. The Black's Law Dictionary, 4th Ed., explains the meaning of „defamation‟ as “the taking from one‟s reputation. The offense of injuring a person‟s character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements”. 33. In addition, P.H. Winfield in A Textbook of the Law of Tort, 5th Ed. 1950, defines „defamation‟ as “the publication of a statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally; or which tends to make them shun or avoid that person”. 34. As per R.F.V. Heuston, Salmond on the Law of Torts, 17th Ed. 1977, the wrong of defamation “consists in the publication of a false and defamatory statement concerning another person without lawful justification. That person must be in being. Hence not only does an action of defamation not survive for or against the estate of a deceased person, but a statement about a deceased or unborn person is not actionable at the suit of his relatives, however great their pain and distress, unless the statement is in some way defamatory of them”. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:ZEENAT PRAVEEN Signing Date:05.02.2024 16:25:50 CRL.M.C. 6347/2019 Page 22 of 50