The main legal point established in the judgment is the need to consider alleged imputations in the context of the entire article and the impact on the reader. The court also emphasized the mandatory provision of S. 199 of the Cr.P.C. and the requirement for the complainant to be an aggrieved person.

This petition under S. 482 of the Cr.P.C. was filed by the three accused in C.C. 138/85 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Vaikom for quashing the original of Ext. P1 complaint in that case as an abuse of process of court in order to secure the ends of justice. Ext. P2 is copy of the sworn statement of the complainant recorded by the Magistrate. Complainant is the 1st respondent and the State of Kerala is the 2nd respondent.

2. First petitioner is a columnist residing in Bombay, though he is a Malayalee. Second and 3rd petitioners are respectively the Editor and Publisher of Kalakaumudi, a Malayalam Weekly published from Trivandrum. In the two issues of the weekly (Exts. P3 and P4) an article written by the 1st petitioner was published in two parts under the caption "Syrian Christians and National Integration". Complainant claimed himself to be a member of the Syrian Christian Community and he says that certain imputations contained in part-II of the article are defamatory to his community and as such defamatory to him also. That is how he claims to be an aggrieved person. The complaint was filed for offences punishable under Ss. 500 and 501 of the I.P.C.

3. As already stated the publication was made in two parts under the same caption. The article contained in two parts form a compact and indivisible whole. It contained compliments to the Syrian Christian Community as a whole. Their great and proud ancestry was referred to and they were blamed and alerted for their inactions, pointing out the raw deal meted out to them by the political forces in power. Their rich legacy of culture and achievements were also pointed out and referred to. The article lamented their inaction and the consequent unemployment and poverty. It was pointed out that this state of affairs forced some of their womenfolk to migrate abroad in search of employment, in which process some ladies among them were even forced to resort to prostitution for earning a living. It was the further assertion in the article that poverty and consequent inability to give away daughters in marriage forced many parents to send their daughters to nunneries. At the same time priests and nuns were praised for doing great service to mankind over and above spiritual service to the society. The article also contained some statements indicating that Mother Theresa belonging to the Syrian Christian Community is doing her missionary work for publicity alone while nuns in many institutions are doing silent selfless service to the society without any desire for publicity. The allegation of the 1st respondent in the complaint is that there are several scandalous imputations coupled with irony and sarcasm intended to harm the reputation of the Syrian Christian Community as a whole. The counsel for the 1st respondent stated that the three scandalous imputations in the complaint are (1) some Syrian Christian girls working abroad are engaged in prostitution for livelihood, (2) Syrian Christian ladies are being sent to the nunneries on account of the financial incapacity of their parents to give them away in marriage, and (3) Mother Theresa who is considered to be a living Saint of Christian Community is alleged to be doing missionary work for publicity alone.

4. There is much force in the contention of the petitioners that the article in two parts had to be read as a whole by the 1st respondent before filing the complaint. He ought to have understood the circumstances under which the alleged imputations were made. The impact and effect of the imputations, if any, had to be considered in the background of the entire facts and circumstances stated therein. The bane and the ante dote ought to have been considered together by the 1st respondent. If in one part of the publication there is something disreputable but it is removed by the other parts and the conclusions, then the disreputable part alone cannot be taken out in the process of picking and choosing in order