M.S. Ramesh, J.

1. The petitioner who is an editor, printer and publisher of "Dinakaran" daily had published an article on 28.07.2013 reporting distribution of half eggs in a Noon Meal Scheme extended to the students in the Tribal Schools of Udumalai region instead of whole eggs. Considering the news item, the Government of Tamil Nadu in G.O. Ms. 1230 dated 19.10.2013 had granted sanction to the respondent herein to initiate criminal proceedings against the petitioner for the offences under Section 499 and 500 IPC and accordingly, C.C. No. 6 of 2013 came to be filed before the learned Principal District and Sessions Judge, Tiruppur. Challenging the said proceedings, the present petition has been filed.

2. Heard Mrs. Sneha, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. P. Muthukumar, learned Government Advocate for the respondent.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that there is not a single sentence in the said news report published in the daily dated 28.07.2013 which amounts to defamation. The learned counsel further urged that it was a report of an incident that occurred in Tribal Schools at Udumalai. The learned Government Advocate on the other hand oppo