NATIONAL SUGAR MILLS LTD Vs. ASHUTOSH MUKHERJEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application for an interim injunction pending the determination of the suit to restrain the defendant, his servants and agents from publishing the words mentioned in paragraph 4 of the petition or any of them or any similar words or words to the like effect which are defamatory of the plaintiff.

(2.) This suit was filed on June 13, 1960, by the plaintiff, a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act and having its registered office at No. 15, Chittaranjan Avenue, Calcutta, within the jurisdiction, of this Court. The defendant is described in the plaint as the printer, publisher and editor of a Bengali weekly newspaper called "Mayurakshi" having circulation among other places in Calcutta within the jurisdiction of this Court and in the district of Birbhum. The full text of the publication, a good portion whereof is in Bengali, is contained in Annexure "A" to the plaint. It refers to the way in which the plaintiff company carries on business and there can be no two opinions on the point that the publication is clearly libellous. On translation of the Bengali portion into English the whole as shown in the said annexure reads as follows:

(3.) It is not disputed that the issue of Mayurakshi on the 7th of April, 1960, contained the defamatory matter complained of. The plaintiff complains that by the said words and publication the defendant meant and was understood to mean that the plaintiff had sold sugar produced by it at a price over the controlled rate and that by its method of trade and business it had made a profit of Rs. 7,00,000/- which had not been accounted for and which had been or would be mis-appropriated by the plaintiff and its management and that the plaintiff was carrying on business dishonestly with a view to defraud and was defrauding its customers and shareholders alike and that its books of account and documents and papers were not kept in the proper way so as to allow the misappropriation of a portion of the sale proceeds of its products. The plaintiff has claimed Rs. 5,00,000/- as and by way of damages for the injury to its credit and reputation and has further prayed that the defendant be restrained perpetually from continuing to publish the charge contained in the said newspaper of the 7th April, 1960, or similar charges against the plaintiff in the future issues of the said newspaper. In paragraph 8 of the plaint it is stated that the publication was made at amongst other places, Calcutta within the jurisdiction of this Court. The reliefs prayed for are : 1. A decree for Rs. 5,00,000/- as damages; 2. Perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, its servants and agents from the publication of the said words or words to the like effect