New Delhi, The Delhi High Court has quashed criminal defamation proceedings against senior advocate and former Member of Parliament Pinaki Misra, in a case alleging that he had said certain objectionable words about a lawyer in an interview.
The high court, in its order, noted that the allegation against Misra was founded upon the contents of an online news report. The high court also quashed a trial court’s April 2019 order summoning Misra to face trial for defamation, saying permitting the proceedings to continue would not advance the cause of justice. “Accordingly, this court deems it appropriate, in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of CrPC, to quash the impugned summoning order and the consequential proceedings arising therefrom.
“The allegation that the publication caused damage to his reputation, by itself, remains an assertion of the complainant and does not establish the statutory requirement contemplated by Explanation 4 to Section 499 of IPC,” the court said in its order passed on August 25. The high court said permitting the criminal proceedings to continue would not advance the cause of justice and instead subject the petitioner to the rigours of a criminal trial in the absence of sufficient foundational material. The petition is accordingly allowed,” it said. The court said the alleged imputation was founded upon an online news report, which has not been supported by examination of the concerned reporter, author, editor or any other person associated with the news portal, particularly when the petitioner had specifically denied having made the alleged statement and had also sent a communication seeking clarification in this regard.
