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High Court quashes summons against INLD MLA Abhay Chautala on criminal defamation complaint

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Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, December 19

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday quashed summons and all subsequent proceedings against INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala in a criminal defamation case on the basis of a complaint by IPS officer Param Vir Rathee against 34 persons including journalists and political leaders way back in 2008.

“In the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the court’s non-interference would result in a miscarriage of justice…, Justice Anoop Chitkara asserted, while allowing Chautala’s petition filed through counsel Mansur Ali and H S Deol.

In his detailed order, Justice Chitkara asserted the complainant’s grievance was that despite a clarification issued by the CBI published in a newspaper on June 18, 2008, the petitioner made a statement against him. It was published on June 19, 2008, in several newspapers.

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But the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the complainant did not prove that the newspaper containing clarification was circulated in Mandi Dabwali on June 18, 2008, where the petitioner allegedly made such statements in public.

Taking up the matter, Justice Chitkara added a perusal of the news-reports pointed out that Chautala made the statements at ‘Mandi Dabwali’ on June 18, 2008, during political meetings for ensuing elections.

The CBI’s clarification in the newspaper was also published on June 18, 2008, in its Chandigarh edition.

Justice Chitkara asserted: “The preliminary evidence led by the complainant fails to point out that the petitioner, who had made the alleged defamatory statements on June 18, 2008 from Mandi Dabwali, was aware of the news dated June 18, 2018, published in the newspaper from Chandigarh, because the complainant did not adduce any evidence to establish that the said edition of the newspaper containing the clarification was also circulated in Mandi Dabwali, from where the petitioner had made the alleged statements on June 18, 2008”.

Justice Chitkara added the complaint and the complainant did not utter a single word of any prior ill-will of the petitioner against him. The complainant did not plead in the complaint or establish in his testimony in the preliminary evidence any oblique motive, malice, ill-will, mala fide intention of the petitioner, or intention to defame him.

As such, it was a fit case for the court to prevent the abuse of the process of law because the allegations in the complaint and the preliminary evidence did not point out that the public statements allegedly made by the petitioner were made with any malicious intent against the complainant.

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