The Patna High Court has quashed the criminal defamation proceedings against Juggernaut Books Private Limited, the publisher of 'Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev', holding that a person cannot start defamation proceedings merely because he is a follower or disciple of the person allegedly defamed.

Source: Live Law

A single-judge Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Sinha allowed the publisher's petition in M/s Juggernaut Books Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Bihar (Criminal Miscellaneous No. 10548 of 2018) and set aside the magistrate's cognisance orders of October 7 and October 9, 2017, along with all consequential proceedings against the publisher.

The proceedings began with a complaint filed on September 6, 2017, by Amit Kumar before the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Hajipur in Vaishali district. Kumar, who described himself as a follower of Swami Ramdev, said he bought the book on September 1, 2017, and alleged that it defamed Ramdev and hurt religious sentiments, including by indirectly holding Ramdev responsible for the deaths of Guru Shankaranand, Swami Yogananda and Rajiv Dixit.

After examining the complainant and two witnesses, the magistrate took cognisance of offences under sections 295-A, 500, 501 and 502 of the Indian Penal Code and issued process against the publisher. Juggernaut Books then moved the High Court under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashing of the orders.

Quashing the case, the court observed: 'The complainant cannot, therefore, step into the position of the person allegedly defamed merely because he is a disciple or a follower of that person. The statutory requirement under Section 199(1) cannot be enlarged on the basis of personal sentiments or association.'

Source: Verdictum

The Bench also held that cognisance of the section 295-A offence could not have been taken without the previous sanction of the Central or State Government required under section 196(1)(a) of the CrPC, and that the complaint did not disclose the essential ingredients of that offence. Holding that the prosecution suffered from fundamental legal infirmities and that its continuation would be an abuse of process, the court quashed both cognisance orders and all consequential proceedings against Juggernaut Books.

Source: India Legal Live