A defamation complaint must be filed by the aggrieved party directly, as a Power of Attorney lacks standing under Section 199(1) of the Cr.P.C.

ORDER :

G. ILANGOVAN, J.

1. These criminal original petitions have been filed seeking quashment of the case in STC No.2910 of 2023 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate No.VI, Madurai.

2. The facts in brief:-

The respondent herein filed a private complaint with the following averments:-

He owns land in Survey Nos.405/1, 405/2 and 410 of Puliyarai Village, Sangottai Taluk, Tenkasi District. He is in possession of the property. He wanted to put a residential building. Proper permission was obtained. Now the construction is also underway. The first accused, who is the local resident started demanding money illegally. He also started threatening that if the demand is not satisfied, he will spread false information. But the complainant did not bother. Now, he started spreading defamatory imputation as if proper approval was not obtained. Now, it is a possibility of intrusion of sewage water. The imputations are made knowing fully well that the construction of the building does not have any nexus either to Moolaperi Dam or to the ground water level. The first accused also intentionally causing spread these imputations with complete crookedness that some articles were also published in the September-2022 issue. The Accounts Manager lodged a complaint with the Inspector of Police, Puliyarai Police Station, on 07/10/2022. Enquiry was conducted. In the enquiry, the first accused tendered his apology. He also removed the defamatory imputations from the Face-Book pages.

3. A2 telecasted similar defamatory allegations, on 11/10/2022. A2 also distributed pamphlets to the local residents. The above said interview was telecasted without verifying the actual facts. Because of the defamatory imputations published in the Magazine, the reputation of the complainant severally affected. He is a man of reputation running several Companies. He is also listed out several social activities undertaken by him. He filed a suit in OS No.569 of 2022 before the Principal District Judge, Madurai seeking damages. Realising the true facts, the Editor has also published his regret news in November-2022 monthly issue. So, the accused are liable to be punishable under sections 500 IPC r/w 120(B)of IPC.

4. Seeking qushment of the same, these two petitions are filed by the petitioners on the ground that the complaint is filed by the Power of Attorney namely Thangapandi on behalf of the Editor namely M.Ramu. According to the petitioners, the very filing of the private complaint for the alleged defamatory allegation through the Power of Attorney is per se illegal and not permissible under law.

5. Heard both sides.

6. A small issue is involved in this matter.

7. Even though, it has been argued at length on both sides, touching upon the allegation of the matter, it may not be appropriate, since the matter can be disposed of on the settled principles of law. This court need not go into the merits of the allegation mentioned in the complaint, which cannot undertake. We will concentrate only upon the statutory requirements.

8. The petitioners questioned the very maintainability of the private complaint filed by the complaint through its Power of Attorney. One Mr.K.Ramu, represented by his Power of Attorney Thangapandi filed the complaint.

9. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners, by relying upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of S.Kushboo Vs. Kanniammal and another (Criminal Appeal No.913 of 2010, 28