The judgment emphasizes the importance of raising preliminary objections, including the requirement of sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C., before the trial court and highlights the trial court's role in deciding the maintainability of the complaint.

This petition has been filed praying to call for the records in C.C.No.9600 of 2002 on the file of the Court of XIII Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, and quash the same.

2. On a perusal of the materials placed on record, it comes to be known that the petitioner is the Principal of the Presidency College, Chennai while the respondent is the Lecturer in the Department of Economics of the same college and the respondent lodged a private complaint as against the petitioner in C.C.No.9600 of 2002 on the file of the Court of XIII Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai for the alleged offence punishable under Section 500 IPC on allegation that even though he is the Senior in the Department of Economics of the College, when the Head of the Department one Mrs.T.Suganya Bai went on leave, the accused/Principal with ulterior and sinister motives, orally directed one L.Venkatasamy to be in-charge of the Department, who is junior to the complainant.

3. It is further alleged that when the complainant along with several other responsible teachers questioned the accused about the irregularity committed by him, the accused abused the complainant in the presence of those teachers uttering that an FIR is pending against him and hence he was not eligible to claim the position of the Head of the Department of Economics (in-charge) thus putting the complainant to shock and surprise and to shame in the presence of several of his colleagues; that from that date onwards, the complainant is facing many suspicious situations in the college campus and outside and hence he issued a lawyer's notice dated 6.7.2002 to the accused calling upon him to tender unconditional apology and to pay a sum of Rs.1 lakh to him as damages for having made false, defamatory and derogatory allegations against him with no reply coming from the accused; that the accused told several persons including Dr.J.Antony Pitchai, Reader in English and Mr.N.Madhavan, Lecturer (Selection Grade) in the Political Science Department that: and hence the complaint before the Court.

4. The trial Court having taken cognizance of the said complaint in C.C.No.9600 of 2002 had issued summons to the accused. At this stage, the accused in the said complaint has come forward to file the above criminal original petition on averments such as that the petitioner is presently absorbed on the payrolls of Tamil Nadu Educational Service as Principal of the premier institution, viz., the Presidency College, Chennai and is discharging his duties as public servant from the date of his employment and more particularly on 19.6.2002 when the alleged occurrence is said to have taken place; that the respondent/complainant is working as selection grade Lecturer in the Department of Economics in Presidency College, Chennai; that the respondent while preferring the private complaint for the allege offence punishable u/s.500 IPC had broadly alleged that he was overlooked by the petitioner in the case of seniority in the departments; that the respondent also refused that the petitioner had permitted one Dr.L.Venkatasamy in preference to the respondent in the matter of seniority; that the above factual situation prompted the respondent to question the same before the petitioner on the date of occurrence, while the petitioner was discharging his official duty as Principal and the respondent, as a matter of fact, admits as having done so accompanied by friends, office bearers and fellow teachers. The petitioner has further stated that a First Information Report is pending against the respondent and that is why the respondent was overlooked in the preference of seniority, which statement has been christened as "defamation in the complaint preferred before the jurisdictional court"; that the respondent has caused legal notice to the petitioner on 6.7.2002, for which, the petitioner gave a reply on 14.12.2002; that an enquiry petition regarding the complaint against the respondent is filed before B-5 Thiru