A. PAVADAISAMY Vs. UNION TERRITORY OF PUDUCHERRY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the FIR in Crime No. 03 of 2019, registered by the first respondent for the offences punishable under Ss. 501(b), 506(i), 509 of the IPC and Sec. 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, r/w Sec. 34 of IPC.

(2.) The case of the prosecution is that the second respondent is the president of the Congress Party in the South District. While holding this position, there was a civil dispute between the second respondent and the petitioner concerning a land issue pending before the Civil Court at Pondicherry. The petitioner is alleged to have made several false allegations against the second respondent and his family members in the context of these civil cases, thereby defaming them. While being so, on 28/11/2018, at around 8:00 p.m., two audio recordings (alleged private telephone conversations) between one Pavadaisamy and Shyam were made, in which it was stated that the second respondent had cheated several persons in Pondicherry and had murdered one Prakash by pushing him into a well. That apart, the petitioner is alleged to have made derogatory statements about the second respondent's wife and sister, which led to the filing of the complaint.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the same voice messages had already led to the registration of an FIR in Crime No. 6 of 2018 under Sec. 67 of the IT Act, 2000. After completion of the investigation, a final report was filed, and the same was taken cognizance of by the Trial Court in C.C. No. 26 of 2021 on the file of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pondicherry, for the offences under Sec. 501(b), 506, 509 of IPC and Sec. 67 of the IT Act, 2000, r/w Sec. 34 of IPC. While the case was pending, the petitioner filed an application for discharge in Crl. M.P. No. 383 of 2023, which was dismissed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pondicherry, by an order dtd. 24/10/2024. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner filed a revision before this Court in Crl. R.C. No. 17329 of 2024, and an interim stay was granted on 16/12/2024, staying the entire proceedings.