S. SALMAN Vs. MUKANCHAND BOTHRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.145 of 2018 pending on the file of the XV Metropolitan Magistrate Court, George Town, Chennai.

(2.) The petitioners/A2 to A4 are facing trial in C.C.No.145 of 2018 for offence under Section 499 r/w 500 IPC before the learned XV Metropolitan Magistrate, George Town, Chennai on the complaint given by the respondent.

(3.) The gist of the case is that on 29.11.2017, the respondent (M.Gagan Bothra), son of Mukanchand Bothra went to George Town Court Complex, where he heard some persons talking about his father referring to some derogatory/adverse/defamatory/ill statement due to a publish of A1 in biweekly magazine 'Junior Vikatan'. The 1 st petitioner/A2 is the person, who had written the article, the 2 nd petitioner/A3 is the Editor of the article and the 3 rd petitioner/A4 is the 'Junior Vikatan' magazine represented by its Managing Director Srinivasan. The respondent immediately purchased a copy of the 'Junior Vikatan' magazine from nearby shop and handed over the same to his father Mukanchand Bothra. The respondent's father read the article, wherein he is referred as financier to Tamil movies, he and one Anbuchezian are bad persons, against whom the Government of Tamil Nadu had taken action. According to the respondent's father, the accused persons purposefully, deliberately, wantedly made that statement to harm, damage and to scale down the reputation of the respondent's father in the eyes of the general public and wantonly impeached the familiarity, reputation of the respondent's father to gain popularity by making such a derogatory statement. The accused persons herein are the media persons in collusion with A1 spread this false, derogatory message among the general public. The respondent's father had never met A1 and had no business transaction with him and not even a single pie was borrowed by A1 from the respondent's father. This being the fact, A1 addressing media with derogatory remarks is false and motivated.