N.M.KASLIWAL, J. - (1.) THIS petition under Section 482 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, is to quash the proceedings before the Judicial Magistrate No. 5, Jaipur City, in respect of offence under Sections 500, 505(2)(3), 468, 469, and 120B I.P.C. The facts leading to this petition are that one Phool Singh presently residing at Nawai.ka Mahant -ka Rasta, Ramganj Bazar, Jaipur filed a complaint against Prempal Singh Rawat Balyogeshwar his wife Marelyn Lois Johnson, Dharampal Singh Sampurnanand and Robert (Rob) Mishler on 9th May,1975 under Sections 120B, 153A, 295A, 298, 420, 465, 468, 469, 471, 500 and 505(2)(3) I.P.C. The substance of the allegations in the complaint is that Phool Singh complaint is a member and staunch follower of Divine Light Mission and is one of its whole time active members since 1961. The Divine Light Mission is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act and was founded to propagate spiritual message The founder was Satgurudev Shri Hansji Maharaj, who has since expired. The present patron is Smt. Rajeshwari Devi popularly known as Shri Mataji, the wife of the founder after the death of Shri Hansji Maharaj his youngest son, accused No. 1 Prempal Singh Ravat, popularly known as Bal Yogeshwar was recognised as the spiritual head of the Mission. Although the Mission does not recognized any office like the spiritual head nor does the spiritual head is directly concerned with the management of its affairs but in actual practice and in accordance with the conventions and methods of working of the Mission, the spiritual head has always been functioning as a senior active member of the Mission. During the life time of late Shri Hanji Maharaj the office of spirit ual head and patron vested in one person but after his death Shri Mataji was appointed as the patron and accused No. 1 was recognised as spirtiual Lead. The activities of the Mission are spread through out the world and thus it was net always possible for Shri Mataji to exercise direct personal control at all times on accused No. 1. When the accased Balyogeshwar reached the age of about 16 years, accused Nos. 2 to 5 entered into a conspiracy to exploit his influence and wealth for their own purpose and in pursuance of this conspiracy accused No. 2 to 5 without bringing to the knowledge of his guardian Shri Mataji, lured accused No. 1 into marrying accused No. 2, although accused No. 1 was only 16 years of age while accused No. 2 was aged 24 years, Suddenly in May, 1974, the guardian Shri Mataji as well as other members of the Mission was shocked and surprised to learn that accused No. 1 had married accused No. 2 in Denvar (U.S.A.) by obtaining a permission from guardianship court in America. After the marriage accused No. 1 fell into the trap of other accused persons and began to further indulge in activities which disgusted members of the Mission and its devotees, because accused No. 1 began to the eat meat and take alcoholie drinks and otherwise began to live a life of luxury. The accused No. 1 further shocked the devotees by declaring what his meat -eating and alcohol drinking wife was an 'Avtar' of Durgs' and should be addressed as such. The accused No. 1 apart from the above conduct had already brought ill name to the Mission by allegedly involving himself in a case of smuggling of foreign currency etc. into India Thus in order to save the Mission, the accused No. 1 was removed from the spiritual headship on 2nd April, 1975, and his eldest brother Shri Satpal Singh Ravat, popularly known as Shri Bal Bhagwan was recognised as its spiritual head. This greatly infuriated accused No. 1 and 2.
(2.) ALL the accused in conspiracy with each other in order do malign, defame and to harm the reputation and to lower Shri Satpal Singh and the Divine Light Mission in the estimation of the followers of the Divine Light Mission and even in the estimation of the public at large, and to prevent Shri Satpal Singh from effectively functioning as the spiritual head of the Mission and to prevent the followers of the Mission to propagate the ideals of the Divine Light Mission got fabricated defamatory photographs of Shri Satpal Singh Ravat in which he had been shown along with some woman in an indecent posture. This fabrication was made by cleverly super -imposing the photograph of a woman along with Shri Satpal Singh Ravat. There photograps are being circulated in Chokari Ghat Darwazo and particularly in Niwai -ka -Mahant -ka -Rasta, Jaipur. The copies of the fabricated photographs have been enclosed and marked 'A' and 'B' for indentification. The copy of the photographs of (Satpal Singh) which have been used for the said super -imposition have been annexed and marked as Annexure 'C and 'D'. It is further alleged that the accused persons have met several followers of the Divine Light Mission in Jaipur and particularly in Newai -ke -Mahant -ka Rasta, Jaipur and have shown them photograps annexed with the complaint and marked 'A', 'B' and on account of these photograps several followers of the Divine Light Mission of which Shri Satpal Singh is the head have been lowered in the estimation of the public at large and the Hindus and followers of the said Divine Light Mission now regard the complainant, who is the staunch follower of the Divine Light Mission and its spiritual head, and his followers as disgraceful and his photographs have created a hatred against Shri Satpal Singh and his followers. It is also alleged that on 6th May, 1975, the complainant came to know that the accused Nos. 1 to 5 had gone to Jaipur and here circulated the fabricated photographs for character assassination of shri Satpal Singh Ravat and to malign, (sic)the Mission and its followers. Then it is alleged that the accused an guilty of fabricating the photographs and are also guilty of injuring the religious feeling of a large number of devotees at Jaipur and in fact through out the world. The object of the accused as to INSult religion and religious belief of the devotees of the Divine Light Mission and to create ill will and felling of enmity between the devotees and followers of the Divine Light Mission. The complainant who is a devotee of the Divine Light Mission and an active member, has personally felt hurt and distrubed by the aforesaid illegal acts of the accused and has been lowered in estimation of the Hindu public, his friends and relations. It is also mentioned in the complaint that the accused were indulging in similar activities at Delhi, Where suit was filed against them by Shri Satpal Singh Ravat in High Court of Delhi and the High Court was pleased to grant an interim injunction restraining them from publishing any defamatory photographs of Shri Satpal Singh. The accused have, therefore, transferred their centre of activities from Delhi to Jaipur after service of the notice of the said suit on the accused persons. It is also mentioned in the complaint that accused are likely to leave the jurisdiction of the Court to carry on their wrongful activities the where at any time and it is apprehended that they may suddenly leave for abroad. Accused Nos, 2 and 5 are in fact foreign nationals. Along with the complaint a list of 26 witnesses was also filed.
(3.) THE learned Judicial Magistrate on 9th May, 1975 recorded the statements of Phool Singh, Ram Babu, Dwarka Prasad and Major Prithvi Singh and passed a detailed order holding that without going into the merits of the case it was prima facie established that the photos were fabricated and distributed with the intention of damaging the reputation of Shri Satpal Singh and of the Divine Light Mission. In the view of the learned Magistrate, there were sufficient grounds for proceedings and taking cognizance of the offence under Sections 500, 505(2)(3), 468, 469 and 120B I.P.C. which were made out prima facie against all the accused at that stage. Learned Magistrate also considered the application of the complainant that the accused persons were preparing to leave India for U.S.A. Thus the learned Magistrate passed the following order: The complaint is registered for offences under Sections 500, 505{2)(3) 468, 469 and 120B I.P.C. against all the accused. The accused persons shall be called by bailable warrants of arrest with the direction that they should not be arrested if they furnish a surety and personal bond in the amount of Rs. 10,000/ each, for each of the accused. Each of the accused shall also furnish the undertaking that the will not leave India till their appearance before this Court. The complainant is required to furnish list of witnesses process, fee and copy of the complaint. The learned Magistrate fixed 15th June, 1975, as the next date for appearance of the accused persons. The accused persons filed a revision in the court of Sessions Judge, Jaipur City against the order of the learned Magistrate dated 9th May, 1975 Is appears that before the revision came up for consideration before the learned Sessions Judge on 10th June, 1975, the accused persons put an appearance in the court of learned Magistrate on 30th May, 1975 and presented two applications. In the application the accused persons informed the Court that Shri Satpal Singh, whs was said to have been defamed by the so -called fake photographs and who had instituted the civil suit in Delhi High Court had later on withdrawn the same on 23rd May. 1975. The matters when were the subject matter of the complaint thus stood compounded between the parties because the plaintiff in the said suit, Shri Satpal Singh Ravat and the defendant] (the set of accused -appellants here) having compounded the matter and were already negotiating on details of the terms, the complaint was bound to be dismissed, Accused persons submitted another application to the effect that they may be exempted from personal attendance till further orders. The Magistrate passed an order on the back of the second application whereby he exempted accused Mrs. Marylon Lois Ravat from personal attendance and allowed her to appear through counsel under Section 203 Cr. P.C. It was also ordered that the had filed her personal bond for Rs. 10 000/ and she may furnish at surety on the next date i.e. 16th June, 1975 The learned Magistrate, it appears, passed no order on the other application filed by the accused -person. The matter came up for consideration before the learned Sessions Judge on l0th June, 1975 and the learned Sessions Judge dismissed the revision but also observed in the judgment that under Section 44(2) Cr. P.C. a Court was empowered to impose a condition as was done by she Magistrate for giving an undertaking that they shall not leave India till the disposal of this case. He further observed that it was a different matter that the Court was enthusiastic when it imposed the condition that the accused persons ought to give undertaking not to leave India but when the Excused persons put an appearance in the court on 30th May, 1975 the court did not insist on them to give desired undertaking. The police released the accused persons on bail but the police did not take any undertaking as per directions of the Court, When the accused persons put an appearance on 30th May, 1975, surprisingly the Court did not ask them to furnish surety and personal bond. The learned Sessions Judge, therefore drew the inference that they were allowed to remain on bail without furnishing any bail bonds and that is perhaps why they left India Learned Sessions Judge, however, observed that it became infructuous in as much as the accused persons have left India and the learned Magistrate be asked as to why he did not seek compliance of order dated 9th May, 1975, when the accused persons appeared in the court, when he was enthusiastic to lay down such condition. ;