Defamatory statements about a deceased individual can still harm the reputation of their relatives, establishing grounds for defamation under Section 500 IPC.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The petitioner has filed the present petition for setting aside the summoning order dated 16.3.2024, passed in Private Complaint No. 2554 of 2023, pending before learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Palampur, District Kangra, H.P. (learned Trial Court) and for quashing the complaint. (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before learned Trial Court for convenience).

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving to the present petition are that the complainant filed a complaint before the learned Trial Court against the accused for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As per the complainant, the accused and her husband visited the office of the Panchayat eleven days after the death of the complainant’s father. They shouted in Panchayat “Humarey Liye ye budha 7 saal phele mar chuka tha, who gawar aur anpad tha, mere liye who zero the zero”. This hurt the sentiments of the complainant and lowered the image of his father. The accused also circulated SMS/Messages on Whatsapp stating that “Tu meri maa ko phone karke kya batana chahta hai unko sab pta hai ki teri okat kya hai.” “Pta hai meri maa or bhai ko chor hai, tu chori karke aaya hai fojj mein or ab ghar akar apne baap ko kha rha tha tu.”, “Army mei agar tu chori kar skate hai to ghar par chori karna tere liye koi difficult task nhi he.” “Chor hai tu chor. Ye Court mein prove karungi mei wait”. The accused called Malkiyat Singh and stated that the complainant was a ‘Bhagora’, and he was suspended from service. The complainant issued a notice through his counsel to the accused, asking her to tender an apology, but in vain. Hence, the complaint was filed before the learned Trial Court for taking action against the accused.

3. Being aggrieved from the filing of the complaint, the accused has filed the present petition asserting that there was insufficient material for summoning the accused, and the summoning order shows non-application of mind. The complaint was filed by the complainant as a counterblast to the civil suit, and the application filed by the husband of the accused. The contents of the complaint, if taken at their face value, do not make out a prima facie case against the accused. The complaint was filed with mala fide motive. Therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed, the summoning order passed by the learned Trial Court be set aside, and the complaint be quashed.

4. I have heard Mr. Digvijay Singh Thakur, learned counsel for the petitioner.

5. Mr Digvijay Singh Thakur, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the contents of the complaint do not establish the commission of a cognisable offence. The allegations in the complaint show that defamatory words were used against the deceased, which is no offence. The husband of the accused has filed a civil suit and an application under Order 39 Rule 2A of CPC. The complainant filed the present complaint as a counterblast to the civil suit and the application. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the summoning order and the complaint be quashed.

6. I have given considerable thought to the submissions made at the bar and have gone through the records carefully.

7. The law relating to quashing of criminal cases was explained by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in B.N. John v. State of U.P., 2025, SCC OnLine SC 7 as under: -

“7. As far as the quashing of criminal cases is concerned, it is now more or less well settled as regards the principles to be applied by the court. In this regard, one may refer to the decision of this Court in State of Haryana v. Ch. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335, wherein this Court has summarized some of the principles under which FIR/complaints/criminal cases could be quashed in the following words:

“102. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enuncia