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| HC quashes defamation process initiated by the Court below | | |
JAMMU, JULY 10 Justice JP Singh of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Jammu wing has quashed the process issued by the Judicial Magistrate Ist class (Forest Magistrate Jammu) describing it as unwarranted.
This significant judgment passed in a petition filed by Amar Singh and Ors challenging the process issued by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class Jammu on July 9, 2003 on the complaint of Virinder Sing the first respondent u/s 500/501/502.
On the allegation harassment by the first respondent, an Advocate by profession, who is in civil litigation with the petitioners regarding land and house falling in Khasra No 1102 situated at village Gandharwan Tehsil Akhnoor, the petitioners submitted that the process of the criminal Court against the petitioners had been misused by the first respondent to force the petitioners to settle the civil dispute.
Justice JP Singh after hearing Advocate OP Thakur appearing for the petitioner and Advocates KK Razdan, RK Jain appearing for the petitioners and also considering the submissions of the counsel for the parties and going through the records, observed that grievance projected by the first respondent as is evident from his statement recorded on oath on July 9, 2003, pertains only to the publication of a news item in which he is stated to have bribed the police to harass petitioners. The preliminary statement of the first respondent does not indicate any other imputation of the petitioners against the first respondents which imputation may be said to have resulted in his defamation. The news item as it appears in the newspaper too does not indicate that the petitioners had alleged the first respondent to have bribed the police. The statement of the first respondent and his witnesses, which read in the light of the news item does not make out nay case of the petitioner having committed the offence punishable u/s 500 of the RPC.
Justice JP Singh further observed that it appears that grievances of the first respondent in the complaint that petitioners had got the news-item published in the newspaper so as to defame him had not been examined by the Magistrate in right perspective ignoring the necessary ingredients of section 501 and 502 of RPC. The Magistrate appears to have acted hurriedly in issuing process against the petitioner for all those offences which the complainant had mentioned in the complaint. With these observations Justice JP Singh quashed the process issued by the criminal Court that the process issued by the Magistrate is unwarranted.
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