P RAMASWAMY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant who was the editor and publisher of a Tamil weekly called "nathigam"' has been convicted of an offence Under Section 295a of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to a fine Pf Rs. 200 on each of two counts in respect of two articles published in the journal dated 20th February 1959. This appeal is directed against the conviction and sentence.

(2.) SECTION 295-A makes it an offence to speak Or write any words with a deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India or insulting or attempting to insult the religion, or the religious reliefs of that class To constitute the offence the necessary ingredients are of words either spoken or written or visible representations (2) deliberate and, malicious intention to outrage the religious, feelings of any class of citizens of India or (3) deliberate and malicious intention to insult Or attempt to insult the religion or religious beliefs of such a class. The articles in respect of the, editing and publication, of which the appellant has been charged Under Section 295-A, are styled as Kailashaththil Pathi thinigal, which literally translated, means chaste women in Kailas, and 'kolaikara Kiris-thavargal' meaning murderous Christians. The first of the article is styled as an imaginary drama and is in substance a dialogue between Sat and, Draupadhi, both held by the Hindus in high religious veneration, the former being the heroine of Ramnayana and the latter being the heroine of Mahabharata. The substance of the dialogue is that each was vilifying the morality of the other, and the impression conveyed by the dialogues is that both were ordinary women devoid of any moral virtue. Apparently the journal, as indicated in its name is intended to give expression to atheism. Pursuant to that object, the first of the two articles was evidently edited and published with a view to disabuse, the Hindus of their belief in the Godliness of 3ita and Draupathi. The other article consists of four stanzas of poetry and appears to relate to two alleged crimes, one a murder committed in Pudukootai Church, and the other a theft committed in the Church at Santhome. The theme of the poems is that the crimes had been committed by Christians who profess to follow the tenets of Jesus Christ, who according to the article was the product of an adulterous union. In other words, under the guise of criticising the two alleged commission of crimes by Christians, the occasion is utilised to vilify the immaculate compaction of Jesus Christ which is the sacred belief of the Christendom. The two articles ex facie appear very morbid and most insulting to the two religions Hinduism and Christianity and to those who profess the respective faiths. Actually in this case the evidence has been let in on behalf of the prosecution that the articles outraged the religious feeliogs of the Hindus and] Christians and were insulting to the religions and their religious beliefs. It is hardly necessary, to refer to this evidence because, the learned Counsel appearing for the appellant conceded that the articles were certainly such as outraged the religious feelings of a Section of Hindus and Of Christians and insulted the respective, religions and religious beliefs. The learned Counsel was prepared even to go further and admit that the articles were deliberately and intentionally published to have that effect. In the circumstances, the contention on behalf of the appellant was restricted to a very narrow ground, to wit, that there is nothing in the prosecution evidence to prove that the editing and publishing of the articles were actuated by any malice on the part of the appellant.

(3.) MALICE, no doubt, is one of the important ingredients of the offence. Under Section 295a, and it is certainly for the prosecution to establish that element by proper evidence. But it has to be realised that malice is a state of the mind and often is not capable of direct and tangible proof. In almost all cases where it is required to be proved, it has to be inferred from th0 surrounding circumstances having due regard to the setting, background and connected facts in relation to editing and publishing articles of the nature here in question.