Roy, J. - (1.) A complaint had been lodged by Raghubir Saran Agarwal in the Court of the City. Magistrate, Banaras, against two persons under Section 500, Penal Code on the allegation that certain utterances made toy them were defamatory to him. The City Magistrate convicted Munnisingh but he acquitted the other accused, namely, Sub-Inspector Ram Prasad Misra. Raghubir Saran preferred a revision before the learned Sessions Judge of Banaras against the acquittal of Ram Prasad Misra, but his revision was rejected by the learned Sessions Judge on 6-8-1953 on the ground that while making the order of acquittal the City Magistrate did not commit any illegality and that the order passed by him was not in any way perverse. Raghubir Saran Agarwal has come up in revision to this Court and it has been contended by him that the words imputed to Ram Prasad Misra were really defamatory and that Ram Prasad was not protected under Exception 9 of Section 499, Penal Code as was held by the Magistrate.
(2.) The charge against Ram Prasad Misra was as follows; "That you on 17th day of September 1951 in the Courts of Sri Rama Nandan Prasad Magistrate and Sri A. Kumar, City Magistrate, Banaras defamed the complainant Raghubir Saran, by calling him a "Dalai" and also wrote in your report dated 10-6-1951 and called him a 'Dalal' in October 1951 at the shop of Munnisingh accused intending to harm the reputation of the said Raghubir Saran and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 500, Penal Code." It would thus appear that the charge comprehended four instances. The last two have been found by the learned Magistrate to constitute no offence punishable under Section 500, Penal Code. The Magistrate very rightly observed that a report submitted by Sub-Inspector Ram Prasad Misra to his superior officers intended for official use only was not meant for the public and could not constitute the offence of defamation as contemplated by Section 499, Penal Code. In fact Illustration (b) of the Ninth Exception of Section 499 of the Code would cover the present case so far as that allegation is concerned. Illustration (b) is to the following effect: "A, a Magistrate, in making a report to his own superior officer, casts an imputation on the character of Z. Here, if the imputation is made in good faith, and for the public good, A is within the exception."
(3.) The report submitted by Sub-Inspector Ram Prasad Misra to his superior officer in which the imputation in question was made was intended for official use only and it was made in good faith and for the public good. Consequently both the Courts below were right in coming to the conclusion that it would not constitute an offence punishable under Section 500, Penal Code.;