DEVKI NANDAN Vs. K. NARINDER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order will dispose of two criminal appeals Nos. 805 and 806 of 1961 in which the question arising for decision, is the same.

(2.) THE Appellant Devki Nandan is the son of Ram Chandar Sunar, of Bhiwani. He lost his wife on 29th May, 1960, as a result of burns sustained by her. This was reported in the two daily papers "Vir Arjan" and "Partap" published from New Delhi, of which the Respondent Shri K. Narindar is admittedly the editor, printer and publisher. The report in both the papers, which is in identical terms, reads as follows:

(3.) IN defending himself, the Respondent pleaded that the news -items complained of were published without his knowledge, and subsequently when the true facts came to his notice, he published a contradiction of the same. After a full trial, in the course of which the Respondent -accused examined a number of witnesses in his defence, the learned Magistrate, without going into the merits of the case, dismissed both the complaints on the ground that he could not take cognizance of the offence as the complaints had not been instituted by the person authorised under Section 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In this connection, he observed: