The court held that allegations of defamation and criminal intimidation lacked substance and failed to meet the necessary legal criteria under IPC Sections 500 and 506.

JUDGMENT :

Shampa Dutt (Paul), J.

1. The present revision has been preferred praying for quashing of the proceeding being A.C. Case No. 2869/2019 under Sections 500 /506 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 presently pending before the Court of the Learned Judicial Magistrate, 7th Court at Alipore, South 24 Parganas.

2. The petitioner’s case is that he is an altruist monk, serving the purpose of humanity, being attached with Bharat Sevasram Sangha in the capacity of Secretary, Bharat Sevasram Sangha Hospital.

3. The petitioner states that the genesis of the instant case dates back to 23.04.2019, when the opposite party filed a petition of complaint before the Learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore, South 24 Parganas being AC Case No. 2869/2019, alleging commission of offences under Sections 500 /506 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE against the petitioner.

4. The allegations labeled in the said petition of complaint in brief are to the effect that:-

The opposite party is a reputed doctor attached with Bharat Sevasram Sangha Hospital in the capacity of consultant surgeon and urologist. The petitioner since the last four years had been disturbing and irritating the opposite party in several ways and making the working of the opposite party very difficult. A patient was referred to the opposite party by one Dr. Boral from the OPD with raised Serum Creatinine level and the opposite party advised him to undergo the same test again from another laboratory. The patient followed the advice of the opposite party and the result of such test came as =normal‘. Being dissatisfied by the incident, the patient lodged a complaint with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, who in turn initiated an enquiry and also visited the hospital and called the petitioner and other important officials of the hospital for the said enquiry. The petitioner and other officials of the hospital afterwards blamed the opposite party for the said incident and falsely alleged that the opposite party had some sort of access with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. The petitioner, on 05.06.2018 at around 12.30 in the noon called the opposite party in his office and scolded, abused and humiliated him in the presence of Suranjan Brahmachari, the authorized representative of the petitioner and wrongfully accused the opposite party of provoking the patient to lodge a complaint with the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Hospital’s negligence, on the basis of speculation and without any proof. The opposite party on 08.07.2018 wrote to the petitioner about his disliking the incident of him being scolded and humiliated by the petitioner. Since the above incident, the authority of Bharat Sevasram Hospital had been trying to cut down all the activities of the opposite party in relation to the hospital in highly unethical manner, like diverting the patients to other places. The opposite party served a notice dated 30.08.2018 to the representative of the petitioner enunciating the above incidents. On 06.12.2018 at 10.45 am, when the petitioner arrived at the hospital he found the door of his clinic locked and on enquiry he discovered from the clinic attendant and the floor manager that the key to the clinic was lost and the door of the clinic could not be opened. The opposite party tried to contact the petitioner and other officials of the hospital over phone, but could not contact any of them. The opposite party complained about the above incident to the petitioner by way of a letter dated 07.12.2018, but no action was initiated. The opposite party had a meeting with