The legal point established is that under Section 7 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, the responsibilities of the editor, reporter, and publisher in publishing defamatory material are defined, and the court's decision was influenced by the interpretation of these responsibilities.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. praying call for the records pertaining to the case in C.C.No. 134 of 2022 on the file of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court, Srivilliputhur, and quash the same as illegal.)

1. This criminal original petition is filed seeking to quash the proceedings in C.C.No. 134 of 2022, on the file of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Srivilliputhur.

2. The facts of the case are that the petitioners are the reporter and publisher of the Tamil Magazine namely, Kumudham Reportor. The respondent is the complainant. The petitioners were prosecuted for publishing an article under the heading "TAMIL", on 10.09.2021, in the said Magazine. This article offending the complainant. Hence, he filed a private complaint against the petitioners, for the offences punishable under Sections 499, 500 and 501 IPC before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srivilliputhur and the same was taken on file as C.C.No.134 of 2022, which is now under challenge.

3. The learned Counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that the criminal proceedings in C.C.No.134 of 2022, on the file of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Srivilliputhu, is not maintainable on two grounds. Firstly, the article published under the heading "TAMIL" is not a defamatory article. Secondly, the petitioners are not the editor of the publication. They are reporter and publisher, respectively. In view of Section 7 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, the editor is having the control over the selection of the matter, which has to be published in the magazine. In the book, the name of the editor and publisher are published. Therefore, the criminal proceedings against the reporter and the publisher is unsustainable and thus pleaded to quash the criminal proceedings against the petitioners. To support his argument, he relied upon the judgments of Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh in Crl.Misc.No.M-30154 of 2010, dated 22.12.2011, in the matter of Ramesh Chand Aggarwal Vs. State of Haryana and another.

4. The learned Counsel appearing for the respondent contended that the criminal proceedings against the petitioners are maintainable and conceded that the name of the editor and publisher of the article are declared in the magazine. The petitioners have not disputed the fact that they are the reporter and publisher of the said article. The reporter, being the person, who sent the defamatory matter for publication is liable to be prosecuted. The matter published in the article is clearly defamatory in nature. Any article harming the reputation of the complainant, then, the criminal proceedings has to be continued. But, quashing the same is not a proper thing, particularly, with regard to the first petitioner. With regard to the second petitioner, he is the publisher, as per the declaration and in view of Section 7 of the Press and Registration Books Act, 1867, he may be exempted from prosecution. To support his argument, he placed reliance upon the judgment of Dharwad Bench in the case of Selvina Kom Peter Byarko Vs. Ganesh P and Another, reported in ILR 2021 KAR 835.

5. I have considered the matter in the light of the submissions made by both the parties.

6. It is not in dispute that the article, dated 10.09.2021 at page Nos. 22 and 23 of the Kumudham Reporter Magazine, under the heading "TAMIL" was published in the said magazine. It is also not disputed that the first petitioner is the reporter for the article published in the aforesaid heading i.e., "TAMIL". According to the complainant, the caption and the contents of the article are not only objectionable but also, defamatory in nature and therefore, the petitioners have to be prosecuted for the offences punishable under Sections 499, 500, 501 IPC. Section 7 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, runs as follows:

7. Office copy of declaration to be prima facie evidence.—In any legal proceeding whatever, as well civil as cri