NARSINGH DAS Vs. SADA RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises out of a suit for libel. The alleged libel is contained in a letter admittedly written by the defendant Sada Ram. A translation will be found at page 49A and is in the following words: Our compliments to you, We pray God to protect you and ourselves Bai Sardari died on Maghsar sudi 9th. We informed you of it in a previous post card which we trust you have received. The son of Bhikam Das (son of Net Ram) of Aligarh has been betrothed to the girl at Sikandra. The girl of Sikandra came and she was accompanied by the gumashta of brother Narsingh Das. Maheah Das caused her to be married in the family of a Chandak of Bhongra. Please inform Bhikam Das of it. We promised to pay Rs. 100 to the state employes provided they did not let the marriage to be celebrated, but Mahesh Das paid a larger amount and consequently the marriage could not but be held. We did not receive any letter from Bhikam Das. Other persons of Ghandi s Bas (name of locality) here came to us and it was from them that we came to know about the betrothal. Subsequently we enquired from Kundan Lal, Chanak, and he too told us that the betrothal took place. Such high- handedness has been practised here. Please inform the members of the brotherhood and see if there is any remedy now. The state of affairs here is hopeless, and you must note this. We write the above for your information, please also inform Bhikam Das. There is nothing more to pen. We shall write more on hearing from you. Please keep sending letters to us. In this affair there appears to be an instigation by Narsingh Das.

(2.) The sentence "such high handedness has been practised here" has also been translated as "A horrible thing has been practised here." The sentence "In this affair there appears to be an instigation by Narsingh Das" has also been translated "In this affair there appears to be the advice of Narsingh Das." For reasons which we shall state hereafter we do not think that there is any material importance in the different translations. The first question to be considered is whether or not the letter (quoted above), assuming it to have been written and published by the defendant Sada Ram, is defamatory. There is sworn evidence, which we see no reason to disbeliever that the breaking off of a match where the girl has already been betrothed and marrying her to some one else is considered a very discreditable and improper thing amongst the members of the caste to which the parties belong. There are on the record documents which show that some years ago the breaking off of a match in this way was visited with very substantial penalties by the panchayat of the brotherhood. Sada Ram himself in the fifth paragraph of his written statement (a paragraph which apparently was intended to suggest privilege) states as follows: According to the custom observed by the members of the brotherhood it is bad to break off one betrothal and to enter into a new one.

(3.) The translation of the word "bad" does not sufficiently represent the meaning of the expression as contained in the vernacular. It is clear that the vernacular means that it is a very improper proceeding. It would seem therefore that if the letter means that the plaintiff had taken part in the breaking off of the match between the son of Bhikam Das and the girl at Sikandra, it was imputing to the plaintiff that he was a participator in a matter which the caste considered to be most improper and highly reprehensible. Reading the letter as a whole we have not the slightest hesitation in saying that the defendant Sada Ram imputed to the Narsingh Das mentioned in the letter that he had been guilty of such an act. It will be seen that in the earlier part of the letter the writer says that the girl when she was going to contract the second marriage was accompanied by the gumashta of "brother Narsingh Das." The gumashta s name is not mentioned, and it is clear that the sting of the sentence is the statement that it was the gumashta of Narsingh Das who went with the girl. If there was any ambiguity in this part of the letter, it is made clear by the concluding sentence, namely, "In this affair there appears to be the advice (or instigation) of Narsingh Das." The next question is whether the writer intended to refer in the letter to the plaintiff. The court below has found that he did, and we have not the smallest hesitation in coming to the same conclusion. The defendant did not go into the witness-box and was never examined as a witness in the case; but when he was examined before the hearing in a proceeding of the court, he admitted that the only Narsingh Das whom he knew was the plaintiff. He never stated (as a witness) that he meant any person else. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon this matter, because, as we have said before, we have not the smallest hesitation in agreeing with the court below that the defendant referred to the plaintiff when he wrote the letter.