This petition is filed to quash the proceedings in C.C. No. 108 of 1999 on the file of the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Manjeri by the third accused.

The first respondent had preferred a complaint before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Manjeri against five accused persons including the petitioner herein alleging that the accused persons therein had committed offence punishable under Ss. 500 and 502 of the Indian Penal Code (for short "the I.P.C."). Annexure-A is the said private complaint. The complaint relates to the allegation that accused 1 and 2 therein had preferred complaints before the police alleging that the death of Srijith and his mother who is the sister of the complainant/first respondent and one Balakrishnan were not natural and that the complainant and his brother Balakrishnan were responsible for the death and they caused the third accused, the Executive Editor, Malayala Manorama daily, Kozhikode, 4th accused, Editor, Kerala Kaumudi, Kozhikode and 5th accused, Correspondent, Kerala Kaumudi, Manjeri, to publish the news item containing the details of the petition in the newspapers and thereby all the accused committed the offences. Annexure-B is the photostat copy of the news item with caption published in the Malayala Manorama daily. The learned counsel for the petitioner raised two points : (1) The complaint is not maintainable against the petitioner because he was not directly involved in the selection and publication of the news item in the Malayala Manorama and, therefore, the Court below had acted without jurisdiction in taking cognizance of the complaint against him, and (2) even if the entire averments and allegation in Annexure-A complaint is accepted, the ingredients of Ss. 500 and 502, I.P.C. are not made out.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that in this case, the petitioner, the Executive Editor is not at all responsible for the selection of the materials for the publication in the Malayala Manorama daily and as such the petitioner cannot be held liable for offences punishable under Ss. 500 and 502, I.P.C. There are persons appointed for the purpose of selecting materials for publication. It is also submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that in the absence of specific allegation in Annexure-A complaint that the petitioner was responsible for the selection and publication of the news items in Malayala Manorama daily, the Annexure-A complaint is liable to be quashed as against the petitioner. In support of his contention, the learned counsel relied upon the decision in K. M. Mathew v. State of Kerala (1992) 1 Ker LT 1 : (1992 Cri LJ 3779).

A reading of Annexure-A complaint shows that nowhere in it the first respondent, the complainant in C.C. No. 108 of 1999 of the C.J.M., Manjeri has alleged that the petitioner herein was responsible for the selection of the news items published in the Malayala Manorama or that he was directly involved in the publication of the news item. In paragraph 7 of Annexure-A complaint it is stated that accused 1 and 2 preferred a complaint before the police alleging that the complainant/first respondent and his brother were responsible for the death of Srijith and his mother and that after the death of Madhavikutty Amma, the first respondent and others had taken possession of her properties and ornaments and that the first and second accused had given the copies of the petition to the 3rd and 4th accused and they published the same in Malayala Manorama and Kerala Kaumudi. It is further averred in paragraph 8 of the complaint that the first and second accused had filed the petition before the police and gave copies of the same to the newspaper for publication just to defame him and to torture him mentally. In para 9 it is averred that as a result of the publication of the news item by A3 (petitioner) in the Malayala Manorama and A4 in Kerala Kaumudi, he was put to mental agony and he could not face public as before. Apart fr