Ajit Bharihoke, J.

1. Background facts giving rise to these petitions are that an Article titled "Racket Game Lobs" appeared in the issue of Outlook (English) magazine dated 30th June 2008 wherein the author of the Article wrote on the subject of rampant profiteering by bogus private educational institutes at the cost of unsuspecting students resulting in adverse impact on the future of the students and the financial resources of their parents. In the said article, there was a reference to the respondent No. 1/complainant M/s. Planman Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. and its sister concern Indian Institute of Planning and Management (for short "IIPM"). M/s Planman Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., aggrieved by the content of above referred article published in the magazine `Outlook' filed a criminal complaint under Sections 499, 500, 501 and 502 read with Sections 34 & 35 IPC against the petitioners, claiming that the article published in the issue dated 30th June, 2008 of Outlook magazine is derogatory and defamatory, aimed at tarnishing the image of respondent No. 1.

2. Criminal Miscellaneous (Main) No. 4235/2009 has been filed jointly by four petitioners namely M/s. Outlook Publishing (India) Private Ltd., Mr. Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-Chief, Outlook Magazine, Mr. Maheshwar Peri, President & Publisher, Outlook Magazine and M/s. IPP Ltd., Printer, Outlook Magazine.

3. Criminal Miscellaneous (Main) No. 4234/2009 has been filed by M/s. Rajan Bihari Lal Raheja, Mrs. Suman Raheja, Mr. Viren Raheja and Mr. Akshay Raheja. Petitioners Rajan Bihari Lal Raheja, Viren Raheja and Akshay Raheja are Non-Executive Directors-cum-Shareholders of M/s. Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd. and petitioner Suman Raheja is a shareholder in the said company holding 11 shares.

4. The article which is claimed to be defamatory by the complainant/respondent No. 1 is reproduced thus:

"We need systematic checks to stop rampant profiteering by bogus institutes. It was a bright Monday morning in Delhi. It was informed that a middle-aged gentleman wanted to meet me. He would not give many details, just that he was the parent of a student who had been cheated. It turned out that his son joined an institute that claims to give MBA degrees, has a very good placements record, the best infrastructure, professors from foreign varsities, in short, the best things since sliced bread. To fund this dream, the father had sold the only piece of land he had, and collected about `4.5 lakhs. At the end of two years, what the student got was degree that wasn't a recognized as an MBA, and there weren't any job offers either.

I feel this father's tragic story has a strong resonance across the length and breath of India. Indian parents wager everything they have for their children's education and in most cases, get nothing in return. While it is good to see private investments in education, there is also occasion for serious concern. Year after year, these "private" institutes churn out so-called professionals who don't stand a chance in the job market. Four years back I decided to intervene in one such case and took out an advertisement against one such institute, the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM). I was hoping that I would be challenged in court. Our ad suggested that all claims made by IIPM were wrong or misleading. I knew there were too many skeletons in their cupboard and, if taken to court, they would stand exposed. So, no, they didn't take us to court.

This brings us to the larger issue why does India have the dubious distinction of the lowest employability ratio? It is no longer a problem of creating employment opportunities. Talk to any corporate honcho, and he'll say he can't find employable people. This lack of employable people is the toughest test yet of the India growth story. A recent on study says that not more than 39.5 percent graduates are employable. Another study talks about not more than 10 percent engineers being employable in the IT sector. These figures