MAMMEN MATHEW Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition, under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short "the Code"), has been filed for having the prosecution for the offence of defamation quashed. The corresponding case is pending as R.T.No.11259/06 in the Court of Shri Arvind Raghuvanshi, Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bhopal. In that case, cognizance of the offence punishable under Section 500 of the IPC was taken upon a complaint made by respondent no.2 in respect of defamation in an article published in the weekly magazine "The Week" (hereinafter referred to as "the magazine"). In addition to the petitioners, the respondents nos.3 and 4 were also arraigned as accused in the complaint that related to offences punishable under Sections 191, 195, 196, 201, 500 and 511 of the IPC.

(2.) The allegations, as contained in the complaint, were focused at an article published in November 2, 2003 issue of the magazine with the caption 'Exploitation, Blackmail, Torture'. In the 4th page of the issue of the magazine, the petitioner no.1 was declared as the Chief Editor thereof whereas, admittedly, the petitioner no.2, at the relevant point of time, was working as the Principal Correspondent to the magazine at Bhopal. The respondent no.2, a resident of Bhopal, is also a journalist by profession. The article, in essence, covered story of so-called harrowing experience of respondent no.3, a 29-year-old teacher, who was allegedly subjected to sexual exploitation and blackmail by the respondent no.2 and was also abused sexually by some of the bureaucrats.

(3.) The corresponding averments made by the complainant/ respondent no.2 are to this effect that he was never interviewed by any correspondent of the magazine whereas an explanation purported to have been given by him at Bhopal was also published as an appendix to the offending article and it was, therefore, evident that the local correspondent of the magazine viz. the petitioner no.2 and its Editor had taken active parts in the conspiracy hatched for bringing him to disrepute by concocting a completely false story.