Legal Principle: 1. A person defames another if he states anything, which exposes the other to hatred or ridicule or results in him being shunned by others or injures him in his trade, business or profession. 2. To commit the offence of defamation, there must be communication of defamatory statement to a third party. Factual Situation: A, a patient of B, is dissatisfied with the treatment. He discontinues the treatment and after sometime leaves the city. After a while, his illness was automatically cured by lapse of time. A was upset because B has made him spent a lot of money on his illness which was cured on its own. He writes a letter accusing B for cheating. He alleges that B magnified the effects of the illness, deliberately treated him in a manner so that it persisted and also cause deterioration of his health. The letter is shown by B to his lawyer. In consultation with the lawyer, B files a suit for damages against A for defamation.