PREM KUMAR Vs. NEHAR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks to invoke the inherent jurisdiction of this Court to quash criminal proceedings pending in the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Rohru in case No. 32/2 of the 1989 titled Shri Nehar Singh v. Shri Jehar Singh.

(2.) The petitioner is a journalist. Earlier he remained posted as Resident Editor of Indian Express, Chandigarh. A news-item was published in the Indian Express, Chandigarh Edition, on 17/12/1988. The petitioner submits that the news-item was sent by the Shimla Correspondence of the newspaper, Shri N. D. Sharma, and related to a letter written by one Shri Jehar Singh to the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister, copy whereof was shown by Shri Vijay Mankotia, a member of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. This news pertained to the illicit felling of trees. His case is that the news item was published in good faith on a matter of public interest without ill-will or malice towards the complainant/respondent which was raised by a responsible legislator; that he had no intention to defame him (respondent) which fact is evident that the (petitioner) promptly published the contradiction in the newspaper at the behest of the respondent. However, the respondent initiated proceedings under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code in the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Rohru. According to the petitioner, neither any case is made out against him on the alleged facts nor he was a party to any conspiracy nor the Judicial Magistrate, who took the cognizance of the complaint, had jurisdiction to do so, since such a complaint could be tried by a Judicial Magistrate, Ist Class. The Judicial Magistrate, who was not Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class at the relevant time, had no jurisdiction to deal with the matter, therefore, the proceedings stand vitiated.

(3.) Further case of the petitioner is that on transfer, the transferee Magistrate neither examined the complainant nor his witnesses, but directed the issuance of process for the appearance of the petitioner and others without conforming to the procedure laid down under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter shortly referred as the 'Code') and without due application of mind thereto which has resulted in immense injustice to the petitioner. Finally, it is also stated that no case on the facts and circumstances detailed in the complaint under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code is made out against the petitioner.