The main legal point established in the judgment is that a suit can be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 of CPC if it is inherently barred under the Limitation Act, 1963 and if the plaint does not disclose any cause of action against the defendant. The judgment also emphasizes the immunity provided to judges under the Judges Protection Act, 1985.

ORDER

Shekhar B. Saraf, J.

The instant suit was instituted by the plaintiff for seeking a decree to the tune of Rs. 100 Crore against the defendant, that is, the State of West Bengal (hereinafter referred to as "the State"), on account of vicarious liability for an alleged act of defamation committed by a Hon'ble High Court Judge. The present application is on behalf of the State for rejection of the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. A chronological history of the events that are relevant for settlement of this instant application is given below:

a. On May 25, 1998, the wife of the Plaintiff, Mrs. Anuradha Saha passed away in Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai. On November 19, 1998, Mr. Malay Kumar Ganguly, a relative of the plaintiff, initiated criminal proceedings being Case No. C-3883 of 1998 in the Court of the Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code, against Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee, Dr. Baidyanath Haider and Dr. Abani Roy, who had treated Mrs. Saha in Kolkata.

b. In 1999, the plaintiff filed OP No. 240 of 1999 before the National Consumer Redressal Commission, New Delhi against 19 persons who had rendered medical treatment to Mrs. Saha, claiming compensation to the tune of Rs. 77,76,73,500/- with interest; the same was dismissed in the year 2006. The plaintiff also filed a complaint against 3 Doctors namely Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee, Dr. Baidyanath Haider, and Dr. Abani Roy before the West Bengal Medical Council which was later dismissed. Another complaint was filed by the complaint against Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai and one doctor named Dr. Udwadia before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. This complaint was subsequently withdrawn by the plaintiff.

c. On May 29, 2002, the Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate at Alipore passed a judgment in Case No. C-3883 of 1998 convicting Dr.Sukumar Mukherjee and Dr. Baidyanath Haider under Section-304A of the Indian Penal Code and acquitted Dr. Abani Roy. The convicted doctors preferred a criminal appeal being Criminal Appeal no. 55 of 2002 and Criminal Appeal No. 54 of 2002 before the Learned District and Sessions Judge at Alipore against the said judgment. Mr. Ganguly filed a criminal revision application being CRR No. 1856 of 2002 for enhancement of punishment of the convicted doctors, and a criminal revision application being CRA No. 295 of 2002 before this Hon'ble Court, questioning the legality of the judgment with respect to acquittal of Dr. Abani Roy.

d. The Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta transferred Criminal Appeal No. 55 of 2002 and Criminal Appeal No. 54 of 2002 to itself and heard the said criminal appeals and said criminal revision petitions together, renumbered as CRA No. 295 of 2002 and CRR No. 1856 of 2002. On March 19, 2004, the then Hon'ble Justice Gora Chand Dey passed the judgment in the said matters wherein the convicted doctors were acquitted, the acquittal of Dr. Roy was upheld and some observations against the plaintiff were made. The said judgment was widely shown in the media.

e. Mr. Ganguly challenged the said judgment in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Criminal Appeal Nos. 1191-1194 of 2005. The Hon'ble Supreme Court dismissed the criminal appeals. The judgment passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court on August 7, 2009 in Malay Kumar Gaguly -v- Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee and Others with Kunal Saha (Dr.) -v- Dr. Sukutnar Mukherjee and Others reported in (2009) 9 SCC 221.

f. In August, 2011, the plaintiff herein filed a complaint against the Hon'ble Justice Gora Chand Dey (retired), being Case No. C/9928 of 2011 under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code before the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate which was dismissed on August 16, 2011. The plaintiff had also filed CRR No. 2755 of 2011 (Kunal Saha vs Mr. Gora Chand Dey Justice (Retired) and Anr.) in the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta which was dismissed without costs by a judgment dated September 29, 2012 passed by the Hon'ble Justi