According to the news report in question, the dossier was titled ‘Jawaharlal Nehru University: The Den of Secessionism and Terrorism‘.
The article stated that the dossier was submitted to the JNU administration, where some JNU teachers were accused of encouraging a decadent culture in JNU by legitimising separatist movements in India.
As per The Wire article, Singh was at the helm of the group of teachers who compiled the dossier.
A criminal defamation case was subsequently filed by Singh against The Wire and its reporter in 2016.
A magistrate had issued summons in the case in February 2017. However, there was no progress in the matter even after seven years later.
The High Court had made note of the said aspect as well, before staying the proceedings before the trial court.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani had noted that the publication did not claim that Singh was involved in any wrongdoing. Further, it did not speak about the professor in any derogatory, derisive or denigrating terms, the Court observed while quashing the summons.
This prompted Singh to approach the Supreme Court in appeal.
The Supreme Court today allowed the appeal and asked the Magistrate to take a fresh call on issuance of summons.
Source: Barandbench
