ORDER :

1. The petitioners are before this Court calling in question registration of a crime in Crime No.362 of 2022 for offence punishable under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’ for short), Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2008 and Sections 120B, 403, 465 and 34 of the IPC.

2. Facts adumbrated, as borne out from the pleadings, are as follows:-

Before embarking upon narration of facts, I deem it appropriate to notice the protagonists in the alleged crime. The 1st petitioner is the General Secretary of Indian National Congress, in-charge of Communication, Publicity, Media including Social and Digital Committee of the commerce. Petitioner No.2 is the Chairperson of the Social Media and Digital Platform of the Indian National Congress. The 3rd petitioner is the Member of the Steering Committee of the Indian National Congress. They are accused 1, 2 and 3. The 2nd respondent is the complainant, a partnership firm owning and broadcasting music in the name and style of “MRT Music”. The petitioners claim to be persons in public life and members closely associated with the Indian National Congress. The 1st petitioner is a Member of Parli