New Delhi: Expressing its exasperation at the rising use of criminal defamation, the Supreme Court on Monday observed that “the time has come" to look into decriminalising the colonial-era law. It replaced Section 499 — the earlier provision for criminal defamation — under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The SC was hearing a petition challenging summons issued to online news portal The Wire in connection with a defamation case filed by Prof Amita Singh of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Singh had filed this defamation case against The Wire in 2016, following which a magistrate had issued summons to the news website in February 2017. India remains one of the few democratic countries where defamation is a criminal offence while most others provide for civil remedy.