R.N.MITTAL, J. - (1.) THESE contempt proceedings against the respondents have been initiated on the basis of a letter from Mr. P.L. Goyal Subordinate Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Jagadhri.
(2.) BRIEFLY , the facts are that Mr. Goyal joined as Subordinate Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Jagadhri, with effect from 29th March, 1982. Madan Lal Bhasin Rana, respondent No. 1, and Mahesh Bhasin Rana, respondent No. 2, are father and son. Respondent No. 1 is the Editor of two local newspapers-Janta Milap, Yamunanagar, and Mehfal-E-Adab and respondent No. 2 is the Editor of Rana Partap. It is alleged that respondent No. 1 publishes advertisements of various companies without their instructions and then sends bills to those companies. If they do not pay the bills, he files suits for recovery of the amounts against them as an indigent person. Later, he withdraws the suit after receiving the amounts out of the Court. This fact was noticed by a Division Bench of this Court in Civil Revision No. 2320 of 1980 decided on 1st April, 1982. In that case, the list of such cases supplied to the Division Bench was of over 300 cases. It is further stated that he also had been getting published some defamatory articles against himself in the newspapers of some friends, whereafter he would file suits for damages or criminal complaints under section 500, Indian Penal Code, against the purported writers of those articles. He then extracted money from such persons and withdrew the criminal complaints. Thus, he has been abusing the process of the Court. Various cases are still pending in the Courts at Jagadhri. He used to get his 10-12 cases fixed for a particular date. Mr. Goyal, after taking the charge, told him that his cases would be fixed on different dates because of administrative difficulties. He felt annoyed because of that action. In the first weak of May, 1982, respondent No. 2 entered his Court when he was hearing arguments in a case. He introduced himself as a Journalist to Mrs. Goyal and handed over a copy of a newspaper. Mr. Goyal told him that it was not proper to hand over the newspaper at that stage and to interfere in the Court proceedings. At this, he felt humiliated. Respondent No. 1 was standing in the verandah of the Court room at that time. Having felt aggrieved from the humiliation to which the respondents were put by Mr. Goyal, they published a news item in Rana Partap dated 8th May, 1982, where in they made false allegations that Mr. Goyal, a victim of Emergency, inaugurated the election campaign of a local property dealer of yamunanagar, who had amassed wealth in the sale and purchase of plots in collusion with the local officers on the stage of Mehfal-E-Adab during its annual Mushaira held in the Town Hall of Yamunanager on 31st March, 1982. It was further stated that the candidates spent a huge amount to meet the expenses of a function at the instance of Mr. Goyal. The copy of the news item is Annexure 'C'. The news item was again published by Madan Lal Bhasin Rana on 16th May, 1982, in the news paper Mehfal-E-Adab. The invitation which was extended to the citizens for attending the Annual Function of Mehfal-E-Adab on 31st March, 1982, is Annexure 'E'. It is alleged by Mr. Goyal that the articles were published with the aim of lowering his prestige in the public.
(3.) THERE after, on 4th July, 1982, the respondents published several news items in Rana Partap in which it was inter alia stated that respondent No. 1 had made a complaint about the corruption of Mr. Goyal to the higher courts, that Mr. O.P. Datta, a press reporter, had informed respondent No. 1 that Mr. Goyal had said that he would ruin respondent No. 1 by misusing his judicial powers and would get him killed from the criminals who were his co-prisoners during his imprisonment for nineteen days during Emergency and that Mr. Goyal had inaugurated the election campaign of the candidate of Mr. Sher Singh, Ex-Minister, for Yamunanager seat to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, at the instance of the said Minister and that the cases under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act at Jagadhri would be tried by Mr. Sham Sunder Singh Dahiya instead of Mr. Goyal. It was further stated that on account of this change, an Advocate and his gang who exploited Mr. Goyal felt disappointed. The reasons for the transfer of the work from Mr. Goyal's Court to Mr. Dahiya's Court was that the latter was appointed as a Magistrate at Jagadhri on 15th June, 1982 and he happened to be the senior-most Judicial Magistrate there. The food cases, according to the instructions of the High Court, were to be tried by the Senior-most Judicial Magistrate at a station. It is alleged that in view of the posting of Mr. Dahiya, the cases under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act were transferred to his Court from that of Mr. Goya'. Mr. Goyal states that all the news items were totally baseless and were calculated to malign him as a Judicial Officer. The news items are purported to have been published in the name of respondent No. 2 but the real brain behind them, it is stated, was respondent No. 1;