VINOD K.SHARMA,J - (1.) PETITIONERS H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief and other Editorial Board members of The Tribune have filed this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing of Criminal Complaint No. 135 dated 16.7.2005 titled as Mrs. Bharti Arora v. Kulwinder Sandhu and others filed under sections 499/500/501/502 read with section 34 IPC pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Karnal as well as the summoning order dated 16.7.2005 and subsequent proceedings arising therefrom.
(2.) THE complainant Mrs. Bharti Arora filed a complaint on the allegations that Kulwinder Sandhu the Press Correspondent of The Tribune Chandigarh, the other accused, i.e. the petitioners herein had printed false and defamatory news items on 4.4.2005, 10.4.2005 and 23.4.2005. The news items published read as under :- "Case registered but child bride awaits rescue" was published on page 7 Column No. 7 of the aforesaid Daily THE TRIBUNE on 4th April, 2005, the offending excerpts of which are as under :- (i) It seems the attitude of the civil and police authorities towards this evil act has been casual at best. (ii) Unfortunately the District Administration has taken the interest into this incident of Child Marriage that was undoubtedly of grave concern for the social as well as political scientist. Neither District Magistrate Shri Shyamal Misra nor Superintendent of Police Bharti Arora had made efforts to get the girl from her in-laws house". The second news item under caption "Laxity in probe into child marriage irks CM" was also published on page No. 7, column No.1 of the aforesaid Daily The Tribune on 10th April, 2005. The offending excerpts of which are as under :- "It has been alleged that both the District Magistrate of Karnal, Mr. Shyamal Mishra, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr. Bharti Arora, were trying to hush up the investigation process after registering the FIR under Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, on a report submitted by the Child Development Project Officer, Ms. Ramesh Nagpal". The third news item captioned : "S.P. Flouting High Courts Directive" was published on Page No. 7 Column No. 5 of the aforesaid Daily The Tribune on 23rd April, 2005, the offending excerpts of which are as under - "The Karnal S.P., Ms. Bharti Arora, has been flouting the directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh with regard to the use of Red Light atop her official vehicle and black films on window panes, with impunity since her posting a few weeks ago. The Tribune has got a photograph of the vehicle (HNK-9) of the S.P., bearing the Red Light and Black films without the permission of the authorities concerned ".
(3.) THE case of the complainant was that the news items referred to above were false, scandalous and per se defamatory and it hurt the feeling of the complainant and has lowered her image among her relatives, friends and general public at large. The complainant also reacted to the above said news items and wrote a letter dated 24.4.2005 to accused No. 2 H.K. Dua which reads as under :- "It is highly regretted that your esteemed paper The Tribune, Chandigarh through your Correspondent Sh. Kulwinder Sandhu, of Karnal has got published the above news that the undersigned is flouting the Directive of Punjab and Haryana High Court with regard to the use of Red Light atop her official vehicle and black window panes and that too without consulting the undersigned or her subordinates. Whereas, the fact is that there is specific permission with regard to the use of tinted glasses as well as Red Light on my official car No. HNK-9. The necessary paper in this regard may be seen in my office on any working day. The said News Item is so scandalous and defamatory and it has hurt my feelings and lowered my image in the general public, which cannot be compensated in terms of money. I, therefore, call upon you to either publicly apologize in respect of above reporting or I shall be constrained to file legal proceedings in the Court of law without unnecessary delay". ;