Judgment-

AHMADI

( 1 ) DR. Subramaniam Swamy, the defendant in Suit No. 945/89 pending on the Original Side of the Bombay High Court, has filed this petition under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (the Code hereafter) read with Order 35 I-B of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966, praying for the transfer of the aforesaid suit from the Bombay High Court to any Civil Court in Karnataka, preferably the City Civil Court at Bangalore, on the ground of forum non-convenience.

( 2 ) THE respondent Shri Ramakrishna Hegde has filed the aforesaid suit in the Bombay High Court claiming a sum of Rupees one crore by way of damages for injury caused to his reputation by the publication/imputation of certain alleged defamatory statements made by the petitioner at a Press Conference held in New Delhi on 10/01/1988 which was attended by several members of the Press and media specially invited to the said Conference. The allegation in the plaint is that the petitioner levelled several accusations against the. respondent at the said Press Conference which were widely circulated/ reported in the newspapers of 11/01/1989. These allegations have been catalogued in clauses (a) to (p) of paragraph 4