Just back from the High Court, where Lady Justice Smith granted Indian national His Holiness Sant Baba Jeet Singh ji Maharaj the right to appeal in his libel case against journalist Hardeep Singh.

The case centres on an article that Singh wrote in August 2007 for the Sikh Times, a British newspaper, in which he claimed that Jeet Singh was an “accused Cult leader” whose teachings were not in line with mainstream Sikh doctrine. The article also connected his followers with conflict in UK temples. The claimant —a self proclaimed “Holy Man” — has never visited the United Kingdom.

In May 2010 a High Court judge threw out the case brought against freelance British journalist Hardeep Singh. Mr Justice Eady ruled for a permanent stay with no right to appeal. Eady’s judgment held that secular courts should not make a judgment on a religious dispute.

Today’s application for appeal was granted on the limited basis that there are arguable issues in Singh’s article that do not tread on the forbidden area of doctrinal dispute.

The appellant had previously made a written application for appeal that was refused by the Rt Hon Lord Justice Laws on the 30 July 2010.

UPDATE: Press release from the Libel Reform Campaign

Journalist faces £1 million bill in libel action – Appeal allowed in His Holiness vs Singh case

At the High Court in London this morning, Lady Justice Smith granted Indian national His Holiness Sant Baba Jeet Singh ji Maharaj the right to appeal in his libel case against British journalist Hardeep Singh. The case will now go before three judges at the Court of Appeal to decide whether it should proceed to a full trial.

Hardeep Singh said: “I’ve been fighting this case for three years already; this adds a minimum of another six months of torment. If I lose, it will cost me over £1 million, let alone my costs so far and a tenth of my life. This feels like the biggest game of poker you can possibly play: all for exercising my right to free expression.”

He added: “I’m hoping the government take reform of our libel laws seriously and we get a robust bill in the New Year.”

Mike Harris from Index on Censorship said: “When individuals like Hardeep Singh risk £1m and bankruptcy all for a single newspaper article, it really hits home how important libel reform is. I hope the government backs the Libel Reform campaign’s call for wholesale reform of our libel laws so free speech is protected.”

Síle Lane from Sense About Science said: ‘Change in the libel laws cannot come soon enough. Singh’s case highlights that the laws as they stand are unfair, unduly costly, out of date and against the public interest. Until we have a clear, strong public interest defence against libel actions writers, bloggers, NGOs and journalists will be forced to back down in the face of threats.’

1. The case centres on an article that Hardeep Singh wrote in August 2007 for the Sikh Times, a British newspaper, in which he claimed that Jeet Singh was an “accused Cult leader” whose teachings were not in line with mainstream Sikh doctrine. In May 2010 Mr Justice Eady threw the case out with no right to appeal. Eady’s judgment held that secular courts should not make a judgment on a religious dispute. Today’s application for appeal was granted on the limited basis that there are arguable issues in Singh’s article that do not tread on the forbidden area of doctrinal dispute. The appellant had previously made a written application for appeal that was refused by the Rt Hon Lord Justice Laws on the 30 July 2010.

The Libel Reform Campaign is being run by a coalition of three charities English PEN (Registered charity no. 1125610), Index on Censorship (Registered charity no. 325003) and Sense About Science (Registered charity no. 1101114). Together, the campaign is calling for parliamentary reform of the current libel laws, to make the law fairer to defendants and people without influence and resources, and to support and encourage the voices of citizen critics.