EMPEROR Vs. MUHAMMAD SIRAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application for the revision of an order passed by the Sessions Judge of Meerut dated 10 December 1927, setting aside the conviction of Muhammad Siraj under Secs.500 and 501, I.P.C., and the sentence of fine of Rs. 50 passed in respect of each offence.

(2.) The facts of the case were briefly as follows: On 24 June 1927 an article appeared in the Risalat which is a weekly newspaper published in Meerut containing imputations calculated to harm the reputation of Lala Har Swarup, a respectable landholder and banker of Mowana, in the Meerut District. He instituted criminal proceedings against the Editor and Printer of the Risalat charging them with defamation. The Magistrate found that the Editor, Mohammad Nazir and the declared Printer Muhammad Siraj, were guilty of defamation under Section 500, I.P.C., and further found them guilty of subsidiary offences under Secs.502 and 501, I.P.C., respectively.

(3.) For the purpose of this application it is unnecessary to consider whether the publication of the article did or did not constitute an offence under Section 500, I.P.C.