1. This is an appeal by special leave under S.417 (3) Crl. P. C., against the order of acquittal passed by the Munsiff-Magistrate of Pattambi on a private complaint filed by the appellant. His case was that the respondents got printed and published a leaflet Ext. P-1 containing false and baseless allegation against him with intention to harm his reputation and to lower him in the estimate of others and thereby his reputation had been considerably lowered and he had fallen in the estimate of his friends and the public in general and the accused have thereby committed an offence punishable under S.500 of the Penal Code.

Ext. P-1 is the printed copy of the leaflet. Among other things it is stated in Ext. P-1 that the appellant who is the manager of K. P. R. P. Secondary High School, Kongad has from the very beginning, been in the habit of withholding a portion of the salary due to the teachers and that even after the system of direct payment of the salary through the headmasters was introduced by the Government the manager wanted a certain amount from each of the teachers and had induced the Headmaster to deduct a portion of the amount from their salary.

2. The fact that the