A fair comment defence, including a rolled-up plea, must engage with the sting of the libel as pleaded by the plaintiff or a permissible variant thereof; a comment that there is a 'serious question for investigation' whether a plaintiff acted in a particular way does not meet an imputation that the plaintiff actually acted in that way. Aga Khan v Times Publishing Co [1924] 1 KB 675 should not be followed insofar as it stands for the proposition that particulars of facts relied upon in a rolled-up plea can never be ordered; whether such an order should be made depends on the circumstances of the case.
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