K M MATHEW Vs. ASHOK TANWAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who is Chief Editor of Weekly Magazine The Week has moved this Court under Sec. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for quashing and setting aside the complaint, as well, the order dated, May 11, 1989 summoning him to face criminal charge under Sec. 500 of the Indian Penal Code passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate No. 2, Jaipur City, Jaipur.

(2.) M/s Malayala Manorama Publications carries the business of printing and publishing daily newspaper, Magazines, periodicals and weeklies. One of its English Weekly is The Week which is published from Kochin and printed at the Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam in Kerala. The Editorial Office is situated at Malayala Manorama building at Kochin in Kerala. The daily newspaper Malayala Manorama is claimed by the aforesaid Publication to have the largest circulation in the country. Similarly, the English Weekly The WeekT is also claimed to have wide circulation throughout the country. The non-petitioner filed a complaint under Sec. 500 of the Indian Penal Code against three persons for publication of a story under the caption Rajasthan C.M.Ts Godfather in English Weekly The Week' of February 28 - March 5, 1988 issue on the ground that it was defamatory to him. Presently, I need not go with the facts of that article or gravament of the charge of defamation as they are not necessary for decision of the present petition. The petitioner was impleaded as one of the accused for his being Chief Editor of The Weekly. The other two persons who were made accused in the complaint are Surendra Verma, Senior Editor and Shri Vinod Sharma Correspondent of The Week'.

(3.) At the out-set it may be stated that in the complaint there is no averment at all that the petitioner controlled the selection of matter that was published in. The WeeklyT. He was impleaded as an accused simply on the ground of his being Chief Editor of the Weekly without describing in the complaint the nature of duties performed or responsibilities shouldered by him in that capacity. Before issuing process in the case, the learned Magistrate recorded the statement of complainant under Sec. 200 Cr. P.C. and the statements of two witnesses, namely, Raft Alam and Rajendra Kumar Yadav under Sec. 202 Cr. P.C. There is no factual dispute that none of the aforesaid witnesses have claimed any personal knowledge about the publication of defamatory article. Thus, the petitioner is being prosecuted for publication of the defamatory article merely his being Chief Editor of The WeekT in which the article was published.