J&K High Court Quashes Defamation Case Against Reporter Who Highlighted Misuse Of Hospital Ambulances For Personal Use By Govt Officials

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed a criminal defamation case against a reporter who covered a story relating to the misuse of a public hospital ambulance by government officials. The court held that the news report did not name the respondent, nor was he explicitly quoted as being responsible for the said misuse.

The court stated that it was a general report concerning hospital maladministration. It further noted that the respondent, who was a driver of one of the ambulances, had assumed that the alleged misuse was attributed to him.

A bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal observed that merely because the respondent was suspended, whether rightly or wrongly, would not establish any cause for the respondent to prosecute the petitioner, particularly when there was nothing on record to demonstrate that the news item was published at the instance of the petitioner. It is pertinent to mention that the news report did not contain the name of the correspondent who had reported the story.

The court also observed that the Magistrate had issued the process against the petitioner for the commission of the offence of defamation in a mechanical manner. The court noted that the learned trial court had not recorded the statements of the complainant on oath, whereas, as per the mandate of Section 200 of Cr.PC, such statements are required to be recorded on oath.

The court expressed surprise at the fact that no witnesses were examined, particularly when the allegation against the petitioner was to defame the respondent.

BACKGROUND

The petitioner is a reporter for a newspaper on which a story on the misuse of a public ambulance by government officials was published. The article claimed that the hospital's ambulance was being used as a load carrier, making it unavailable for emergencies. The respondent, being a driver of one of the ambulances, filed a criminal complaint alleging that the news report falsely implicated him, leading to his suspension and public humiliation.

The court held that there was nothing on record to suggest that the petitioner was responsible for publishing the report, as other reporters were also covering the same area. The court further noted that there was nothing in the report that specifically attributed the said misuse to the respondent. Therefore, the court quashed the criminal proceedings against the petitioner reporter.

APPEARANCE:

Ashish Sharma, Advocate FOR Petitioners

Z. A. Qazi, Advocate FOR Respondents

Case-title: Rajesh Tandon vs Mohd. Safeer

Citation: 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 61

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