N CHANDRABABU NAIDU Vs. G JANARDHAN REDDY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal petition is filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to quash the entire proceedings against the petitioner in C.C. No. 153 of 2007 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Rayadurg, Anantapur District for the offences under Sections 500 and 501 IPC. I have heard Sri. C. Padmanabha Reddy, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. S. Sai Ram, learned counsel appearing for the first respondent and the Additional Public Prosecutor representing the State/second respondent.

(2.) The brief facts of the case as per the prosecution are that the first respondent/complainant was the member of the Legislative Council in Karnataka State and the Managing Director of M/s. Obulapuram Mining Company and he was also Managing Director of M/s. Brahmani Industries Limited and other debt free companies. The complainant was also in the business of running star hotels in the State of Karnataka. The complainant is the founder, Editor and publisher of Kannada daily and a Telugu daily newspaper. The first respondent belongs to Bharatiya Janatha Party, his elder brother was an elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Bellary constituency from B.J.P. and his second brother was the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Bellary, who also belongs to B.J.P. The complainant was also said to be the District B.J.P. President, Ballary District. He submitted in the complaint that he hails from a respectable family having a good political background besides having a commendable respect and reputation in the society. The complainant is a respected person in the society both as a business tycoon/industrialist as well as an honest politician.

(3.) The complainant filed the complaint alleging commission of the offences under Sections 500 and 501 IPC stating that the petitioner made certain defamatory allegations against him which harmed his reputation and that of his company and the said defamatory allegations have been published by the accused No. 2 and 3 in their respective newspapers and it has also been telecast in the news channels. It is alleged in the complaint that the first accused, who is the leader of the opposition in A.P. State Assembly raised libel and slander accusations on 21-07-2007 and the same were published by the second and third accused in Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi Telugu Dailies on 22-07-2007. The publications made in the said daily newspapers have been annexed to the complaint. It is submitted that while the complainant was in China, he gave written invitation on 19-07-2007 to the accused No. 1 and others stating that he would come and visit mines along with his party leaders and that he would clear doubts, if any. Subsequently, it seems that on 21-07-2007, various Members of Parliament belonging to his party and some other political leaders attempted to make a visit to the premises of Obulapuram mining company where the mining operations were going on. They were lathi-charged by the police. Then the complainant allegedly made statements 'is it democracy' (prajaswamyama or rowdy rajyama) and also allegedly stated that bad days for the State (Rashtraniki peeda rojulu). It is also alleged in the complaint that the petitioner made a comment that "shall I accept the criminals' invitation". It is also alleged that the petitioner without any bona fides addressed the complainant as a criminal under MMDR Act.