A T JAYANTHI Vs. STATE OF A P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The revision petitioners assail the order dated 10.07.2000 passed by the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad, in Crl.M.P.No.1197 of 1999 in C.C.No.1 of 1997. The revision petitioners are the accused in C.C.No.1 of 1997. The Public Prosecutor having been authorised by the State laid the complaint against the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 120-B, 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code (for brevity 'the IPC'). They are the Editor, Publisher, and Reporter, respectively of the Newspaper "Deccan Chronicle".

(2.) A news items was published in English Daily Newspaper "Deccan Chronicle" on 24.10.1996 under the caption "2 IAS officers in Rs.4 lakh oil scam". One Sri S.Anwar, an IAS Officer and working as Principal Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development is a public servant. Earlier he worked as the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration, Government of Andhra of Pradesh, from 10.04.1989 to 14.04.1990. He is a senior IAS officer with unquestionable integrity and honesty and zeal for public service. He held various responsible positions in the State of Andhra Pradesh and, therefore, is a distinguished and respectable individual not only in the administrative cadre but also in the society. He received a letter dated 23.01.1990 from Andhra Pradesh Small Scale Industrial Development Corporation Limited (for brevity 'APSSIDC') requesting him to direct the municipalities under his control to place the orders for purchase of Maleria Larvicidal Oil (M.L. Oil). M/s.Anand Cottage Industry, Gudivada, is a unit registered with APSSIDC for the supply of M.L.Oil. The object of the Government of Andhra Pradesh is to encourage, promote and develop small scale industries into a viable and self-sufficient units and in that view formulated a policy to market certain products manufactured by such units through APSSIDC. Pursuant to the letter received from APSSIDC, the Commissioner issued a circular in L.Dis.No.50733/89.G2 dated 03.02.1990 to all the Municipal Commissioners in the State informing them that M.L. Oil is available with APSSIDC and they may procure the same from APSSIDC by placing orders directly subject to their needs. In regard to that letter, the Deccan Chronicle English Daily published a news item projecting him as a corrupt official and misused the public office by indulging gross irregularities and favouritism in having registered the bogus cottage industry and securing the purchase orders from all municipalities to their product, namely, M.L. Oil through APSSIDC. The news item published is a defamatory.

(3.) The accused as well as the Editor-in-Chief, by name, Sri M.J.Akbar, conspired together to achieve their common object to increase the circulation of the newspaper still more and in order to establish that their paper is the only newspaper publishing sensational news unearthing the truth have published the impugned publication with all allegations against the Commissioner and other IAS officers to malign the character and image of the public servants. Since the newspapers is being published simultaneously from Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Rajhmundry, the news was spread, the well wishers of the public servants started enquiring him about the publication. Thus, the publication cast a serious reflection on the moral as well as official and intellectual character of the public servant. The said publication is opposed to all norms of good and fair journalism and was made in most irresponsible and unethical manner. Therefore, per se it is defamatory. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, therefore, deemed it just and necessary to launch prosecution against all the accused and directed its Public Prosecutor to file the complaint under Section 199(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for brevity 'the Code') for the offence of defamation. Accordingly, the Public Prosecutor laid the complaint.