Criminal proceeding, an abuse of the process of Court.

The above two criminal miscellaneous petitions have been filed by Mrs.M.Kalyansundari and R.Srinivasan respectively, the third accused and 1st accused in C.C No.15950 of 1983 on the file of the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Madras to quash the proceedings under Sec.482, Cr.P.C.

2. The first respondent in Crl.M.P.No.1426 of 1984 and the sole respondent in Crl.M.P.No. 2981 of 1984 is Dr.A.K.Faziluddin who is the complainant in the abovesaid calendar case. The second accused V.D.Muthu is the third respondent in Crl.M.P.No.1426 of 1984. The complainant Dr.AK.Faziluddin in both the petitions has filed a private complaint under Sec.499 read with Secs.34 and 500,I.P.C. against accused 1 to 3. The first accused is an advocate. The facts of the case are briefly stated as follows:

3. The complainant is a Dental Doctor by profession, having B.Sc, and B.D.S. Degrees and a respectable and prominent Public man in Madras City. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (J) and also a prominent Executive Member in the Indo Arab Friendship Association. He is also the Associated Editor of the English Weekly “News Wind” and also Commissioner of Oaths. He is the younger son of (Late) Dr.M. A.Kareem, who was a popular public figure in his time and a prominent Councillor of the Corporation of Madras for more than 13 years. The complainant’s father is a freedom fighter. The elder brother of the complainant is Dr.A.K.Zainduddin and he is the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress (J) Committee, President of Indu-Arab Friendship Association, Editor of the English Weekly “News Wind” and also a prominent and popular public man and a social worker. So, the members of the family of (Late) Dr.M.AKareem and his sons including the complainant, are respectable and popular citizens with a status and reputation in public and personal life.

4. The third accused Mrs.M.Kalyanasundari was the respondent in a civil suit filed by Dr.A.K. Zainuddin on behalf of himself and the complainant, which was pending before the learned First Assistant Judge, City Civil Court, Madras in O.S.No. 99 of 1978. The second accused V.D.Muthu is the husband of the third accused and he represented the third accused in the suit and gave evidence for his wife. The first accused was the counsel for the accused 2 and 3 in O.S.No.99 of 1978. The first accused had shown a special interest more than the professional responsibility in the case, as he was very much closer to the second and third accused for whom he appeared in various cases against the complainant and his brother Dr.A.K.Zainuddin. On various occasions, the first accused has behaved in a provocative manner against the complainant with animosity and illfeeling and unbecoming of a professional.

5. On 27. 1983 at about 1.30 P.M. when the first accused was arguing on behalf of the second and third accused before the learned First Assistant City Civil Judge, Madras, he showed to the learned Judge a letter said to have been sent by a lawyer A on behalf of his client to Late Advocate B who represented Dr.M.A-Kareem on 15. 1972 which letter was marked earlier as Ex.R-42 (Document No. 10) through the second accused in the case and the first accused looked at contemptuously expressing his feeling of personal animosity towards the complainant and his brother and without any relevancy to the issue, he read the following wordings from the letter:

“At first thought my client doubted whether the deceased for which your client (referring to Dr.M.A.Kareem) is treating lunatic patients is contagious and that his first letter was as a result of the said congation and did not intend to send a reply thereto.” Again the first accused looked at the complainant contemptuously and with an informative and suggestive look around the assembled lawyers and other public as if he was reading the extract from the letter for the sake of information to the assembled gathering in the court. He was also contemp