IMPORTANT POINT
One of the basic legal requirements of Section 499 IPC is that the imputation should be either made directly to the knowledge of third parties or the same should be published to the knowledge of third parties.

ORDER

S. Nagamuthu, J.—The petitioner is the sole accused in C.C. No. 37 of 2006 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate No. VI, Madurai and the respondent is the complainant.

2. The petitioner is the husband of the respondent. The respondent has filed a private complaint against her husband for an alleged offence punishable under Section 500 IPC. Seeking to quash the same, the petitioner herein has come forward with this petition.

3. The respondent has filed a case in DOP No. 37 of 2005 before the Family Court, Madurai under Section 33 of the Indian Divorce Act seeking for a Decree for restitution of conjugal rights. In the said petition, she has stated that the petitioner has deserted her and he is living in adulterous life with one Muthulakshmi.

4. In the said DOP the petitioner herein has filed a counter dated 19.10.2005. In the said counter, among other things, the petitioner has stated that the respondent had developed illicit intimacy with one Arthur Sundarrajan and he used to visit her house during the absence of the petitioner herein and so also the respondent used to visit Virudhunagar to see him without the knowledge of the respondent. On one occasion when the said Aruthur Sundarrajan came to his house, the petitioner who was then present, instructed him not to come again. In reply Aruthur Sundarrajan had informed the petitioner that if his wife says so, he would stop visiting his house. When the petitioner enquired about it, the respondent informed him that if he adjusted with the said Aruthur Sundarrajan, then alone his life would be peaceful.

5. Alleging that the abovesaid statement of the petitioner contained in the counter affidavit amounts to defamation, the respondent has filed the above private complaint in CC No. 37 of 2006 to punish the petitioner under Section 500 IPC.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that one of the essential ingredients for constituting an offence under Section 500 IPC is that there must be publication of the defamatory statement to the knowledge of a third party. Further, according to the learned counsel, merely making certain allegations in the counter even if they are false, the same would not satisfy the requirements of Section 499 IPC. He further added that the statement made in the counter is true and therefore, making such true statement in the counter will not amount to defamation.

7. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent submits that making a statement in good faith is one of the exceptions to Section 499 IPC. But, whether such statement was made in good faith or not is a question of fact which requires to be proved or disproved only at the time of trial of the case.

8. Learned counsel for the respondent further contends that the counter affidavit filed before the Matrimonial Court is accessible to third parties and thus, the statements made in the said counter is deemed to have been published to the knowledge of third parties and as such the act of the petitioner satisfied the requirement of Section 499 IPC.

9. I have considered the rival submissions and perused the records.

10. One of the basic legal requirements of Section 499 IPC is that the imputation should be either made directly to the knowledge of third parties or the same should be published to the knowledge of third parties. In this case, even as per the allegations made in the complaint, it is not as if the imputation said to have been made by petitioner was published either directly or indirectly. Thus, in my considered opinion, the act of the petitioner does not satisfy the requirement of Section 499 IPC so as to attract the offence punishable under Section 500 IPC.

11. The contention of the learned counsel for the respondent that the counter filed in the lower Court is accessible to third parties and in such a way there is publication of defamatory statement is only to be rejected. Pleadings filed before the Courts of law are not public documents to which any body can have free access.