ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN, J.

1. Vide this common order, I intend to dispose of three petitions i.e. CRM-M Nos.28676 and 31354 of 2015 and No.25493 of 2016 as common questions of law and facts are involved for adjudication.

2. Brief facts of the case are that the respondent/complainant namely Ashok Seth filed a criminal complaint before the trial Court against seven accused persons (petitioners) under Sections 499, 500 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (in short 'IPC') with the allegation that the complainant is a law abiding citizen and is a married person having grown up children. The accused Nos.2 to 4 are the Directors of accused No.1 i.e. Hind Samachar Limited which is the Editor, Printer and Publisher of a daily newspaper (Punjab Kesari and Jalandhar Kesari) having a large scale circulation in various places of Punjab including Jalandhar. The accused No.5 is working as a Reporter of accused Nos.1 to 4 who are the Directors, Printers and Publishers of petitioner No.1. The accused No.5 is having its office at Kapurthala. It is further stated in the complaint that all the accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy in order to malign the image and to harm the reputation of