PREM PAL SINGH Vs. PHOOL SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Section 482 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, is to quash the proceedings before the Judicial Magistrate No. 5, Jaipur City, in respect of offence under Sections 500, 505(2)(3), 468, 469, and 120B I.P.C. The facts leading to this petition are that one Phool Singh presently residing at Nawai.ka Mahant -ka Rasta, Ramganj Bazar, Jaipur filed a complaint against Prempal Singh Rawat Balyogeshwar his wife Marelyn Lois Johnson, Dharampal Singh Sampurnanand and Robert (Rob) Mishler on 9th May,1975 under Sections 120B, 153A, 295A, 298, 420, 465, 468, 469, 471, 500 and 505(2)(3) I.P.C. The substance of the allegations in the complaint is that Phool Singh complaint is a member and staunch follower of Divine Light Mission and is one of its whole time active members since 1961. The Divine Light Mission is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act and was founded to propagate spiritual message The founder was Satgurudev Shri Hansji Maharaj, who has since expired. The present patron is Smt. Rajeshwari Devi popularly known as Shri Mataji, the wife of the founder after the death of Shri Hansji Maharaj his youngest son, accused No. 1 Prempal Singh Ravat, popularly known as Bal Yogeshwar was recognised as the spiritual head of the Mission. Although the Mission does not recognized any office like the spiritual head nor does the spiritual head is directly concerned with the management of its affairs but in actual practice and in accordance with the conventions and methods of working of the Mission, the spiritual head has always been functioning as a senior active member of the Mission. During the life time of late Shri Hanji Maharaj the office of spirit ual head and patron vested in one person but after his death Shri Mataji was appointed as the patron and accused No. 1 was recognised as spirtiual Lead. The activities of the Mission are spread through out the world and thus it was net always possible for Shri Mataji to exercise direct personal control at all times on accused No. 1. When the accased Balyogeshwar reached the age of about 16 years, accused Nos. 2 to 5 entered into a conspiracy to exploit his influence and wealth for their own purpose and in pursuance of this conspiracy accused No. 2 to 5 without bringing to the knowledge of his guardian Shri Mataji, lured accused No. 1 into marrying accused No. 2, although accused No. 1 was only 16 years of age while accused No. 2 was aged 24 years, Suddenly in May, 1974, the guardian Shri Mataji as well as other members of the Mission was shocked and surprised to learn that accused No. 1 had married accused No. 2 in Denvar (U.S.A.) by obtaining a permission from guardianship court in America. After the marriage accused No. 1 fell into the trap of other accused persons and began to further indulge in activities which disgusted members of the Mission and its devotees, because accused No. 1 began to the eat meat and take alcoholie drinks and otherwise began to live a life of luxury. The accused No. 1 further shocked the devotees by declaring what his meat -eating and alcohol drinking wife was an 'Avtar' of Durgs' and should be addressed as such. The accused No. 1 apart from the above conduct had already brought ill name to the Mission by allegedly involving himself in a case of smuggling of foreign currency etc. into India Thus in order to save the Mission, the accused No. 1 was removed from the spiritual headship on 2nd April, 1975, and his eldest brother Shri Satpal Singh Ravat, popularly known as Shri Bal Bhagwan was recognised as its spiritual head. This greatly infuriated accused No. 1 and 2.

(2.) ALL the accused in conspiracy with each other in order do malign, defame and to harm the reputation and to lower Shri Satpal Singh and the Divine Light Mission in the estimation of the followers of the Divine Light Mission and even in the estimation of the public at large, and to prevent Shri Satpal Singh from effectively functioning as the spiritual head of the Mission and to prevent the followers of the Mission to propagate the ideals of the Divine Light Mission got fabricated defamatory photographs of Shri Satpal Singh Ravat in which he had been shown along with some woman in an indecent posture. This fabrication was made by cleverly super -imposing the photograph of a woman along with Shri Satpal Singh Ravat. There photograps are being circulated in Chokari Ghat Darwazo and particularly in Niwai -ka -Mahant -ka -Rasta, Jaipur. The copies of the fabricated photographs have been enclosed and marked 'A' and 'B' for indentification. The copy of the photographs of (Satpal Singh) which have been used for the said super -imposition have been annexed and marked as Annexure 'C and 'D'.

(3.) THE learned Judicial Magistrate on 9th May, 1975 recorded the statements of Phool Singh, Ram Babu, Dwarka Prasad and Major Prithvi Singh and passed a detailed order holding that without going into the merits of the case it was prima facie established that the photos were fabricated and distributed with the intention of damaging the reputation of Shri Satpal Singh and of the Divine Light Mission. In the view of the learned Magistrate, there were sufficient grounds for proceedings and taking cognizance of the offence under Sections 500, 505(2)(3), 468, 469 and 120B I.P.C. which were made out prima facie against all the accused at that stage. Learned Magistrate also considered the application of the complainant that the accused persons were preparing to leave India for U.S.A. Thus the learned Magistrate passed the following order: