Acquittal under IPC Section 500 upheld where defamatory corruption allegations against public figure substantially true, supported by demarcation, composition fee and inaction evidence, made in good faith for public benefit by political rival.

JUDGMENT :
Rakesh Kainthla, Judge

The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated 02.06.2012, passed by learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kinnuar, District at Reckongpeo (learned Trial Court) vide which the respondent (accused before the learned Trial Court) was acquitted of the commission of an offence punishable under section 500 of IPC. (The parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the complainant filed a complaint before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 500 of the IPC. It was asserted that the complainant belongs to a respectable family of Village Kalpa, Tehsil Kalpa, District Kinnuar, H.P. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly, H.P. Vidhan Sabha, elected from 1-Kinnuar (Scheduled Tribe) assembly constituency. He was also the President of the District Congress Committee, Kinnaur and the President of H.P. Football Association. He is well well-known character and a man of great stature and repute. He is widely acclaimed and respected as a social and political personality. The accused belongs to a rival political party. He contested the election against the complainant and lost by a huge margin of more than seven thousand votes. The accused started a campaign of vilification and character assassination against the complainant. He made allegations against the complainant, which were widely reported in the newspaper. The news item reported in ‘Divya Himachal’ newspaper in the issue of 26th April, 2006 is as under:-

English translation:-

MLA in the service of kith and kins.

Inter alia reported as under:-

English Translation:

Along with the eight Congress Ministers, MLA Kinnaur is also involved in the corruption. To benefit his brother, he installed a crusher on the government land on Satluj Bed and illegally selling sand and concrete.

3. These imputations were made by the accused to harm the reputation of the complainant in the eyes of the general public, and they adversely affected the complainant’s reputation. These imputations are false to the knowledge of the accused; therefore, it was prayed that an action be taken against the accused as per the law.

4. Learned Trial Court recorded preliminary evidence and found sufficient reasons to summon the accused. When the accused appeared, a notice of accusation was put to him for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 500 of the IPC, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

5. The complainant examined seven witnesses to prove his case. M.R. Dogra (CW-1) is Editor. Bishesher Negi (CW-2) is the correspondent who participated in the press conference and deposed about the imputations made by the accused. Jagat Singh Negi (CW-3) is the complainant. Naresh Negi (CW-4), Amar Chand (CW-5), Khem Singh (CW-6), and Pitambar Dass (CW-7) proved that they had read the imputations and the image of the complainant was lowered in their eyes.

6. The accused, in his statement recorded under Section 313 of Cr.P.C., admitted that he had made allegations against the complainant, the news item was published in Divya Himachal based on the statements made by him in the press conference, and these statements were reported by Bishesher Negi (CW-2). He