T.RAJANI,J. - (1.) Aggrieved by the acquittal of the accused in CC. No. 133 of 2004, by virtue of the judgment dated 05.06.2008, passed by the Munsif Magistrate, Vinukonda, the appellant filed this appeal.
(2.) Briefly, the facts of the case can be stated as under: The defacto complainant, who is the appellant herein, took charge as Medical Officer, Government Hospital, Vinukonda on 22.05.2002 and he was in charge till 21.03.2003. He was awarded best Family Planning Surgeon by the District Medical and Health Officer, Guntur, the then Hon'ble Health Minister and the District Collector, Guntur, respectively. He also worked as in charge for the Primary Health Centers, Enugupalem and Bollapalli in addition to Government Hospital, Guntur. In the month of January 2004, one staff nurse by name K. Vara Lakshmi, who is the accused, absconded from duty, after putting signature in the attendance register. In spite of several oral instructions, she used to commit the same irregularity. He instructed the in charge UDC to obtain leave letter from her, but the accused, without submitting the leave letter and any explanation, created a drama at her residence, that she was attempting to commit suicide by hanging. In fact, there was no such attempt and there was no harassment. No case was registered against her. The husband of the said staff nurse, who is the accused in this case, is a quack Doctor running a clinic and the accused used to attend that clinic by absconding from duty at Government Hospital, Vinukonda. The accused made people believe that she attempted suicide by hanging. It is a pre-planed and pre-meditated act, with evil desires, so as to bring the complainant to terms with her. There was a news item published in Andhra Jyothi dated 07.02.2004 with baseless and false allegations. Due the above behaviour of the accused, the complainant suffered mental agony. The news item is defamatory, inasmuch as it had denounced him falsely and it lowers the respect and estimation in the hearts of the readers of the newspaper. Hence, the complaint was filed by the defacto complainant.
(3.) After following the legal formalities, the Court below tried the case and based on the evidence, it passed the impugned judgment, on which this appeal is preferred on the following grounds: The Magistrate ought to have seen that the accused absconded from duty after putting signature in the attendance register, in spite of several oral instructions and ought to have seen that there was no harassment by the appellant, for an attempt to commit suicide by the accused. The Magistrate ought to have seen that the evidence of P.Ws.4, 5 and 6 corroborated to the extent of irregular attendance of the accused and ought to have seen that it establishes that they went to the residence of the accused on 06.02.2004 and noticed that there were no signs and symptoms of attempt to commit suicide. The Magistrate ought to have seen that the news item in the Andhra Jyothi is without any material evidence and false and ought to have seen that the news item is a clear imputation concerning the appellant and intending to harm the reputation of the appellant. The Magistrate ought to have seen that Ex.D3 disclosed that the accused absconded from duty. The Magistrate ought to have seen that the Collector, Guntur furnished a letter dated 15.12.2006 to the appellant stating that as per the records available in their office, no such letter in Rc.No.392/E1/2004 dated 08.04.2004.;