The Benefit Of First Exception To S. 499 IPC Can't Be Claimed At The Stage Of Issuance Of Summons: Allahabad High Court

The Bench of Justice Dr Yogendra Kumar Srivastava observed thus:

"The benefit of the first exception (to section 499 IPC) cannot be claimed at the stage of issuance of summons"

The First exception to Section 499 IPC states thus:

"It is not defamation to impute anything which is true concerning any person, if it be for the public good that the imputation should be made or published. Whether or not it is for the public good is a question of fact"

Significantly, this exception recognizes the publication of truth as a sufficient justification, if it is made for the public good.

The matter before the Court

An application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. had been filed seeking to quash the proceedings of Complaint Case under Section 500 I.P.C., pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Varanasi.

The Counsel for the applicant also sought to assail the order dated January 18, 2020 in terms of which the applicant had been summoned.

It was contended that the offence under Section 499 I.P.C. was not made out inasmuch as the case was covered under the first exception to the section which provides that if the imputation is made for public good, the same would not amount to defamation.

Court's observations

At the outset, the Court referred to the apex Court's ruling in the case of Chaman Lal Vs. State of Punjab (1970) 1 SCC 590 to observe that public good is a question of fact and the onus of proving the two ingredients under the first exception i.e. the imputation is true and the publication is for public good, is on the accused.

Further, regarding the stage of issuance of summons, the Court noted that at the stage of issuing process the Magistrate is mainly concerned with the allegations made in the complaint or the evidence led in support of the same and he is only to be prima facie satisfied whether there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused.

"At this stage, there is no requirement to enter into the detailed factual aspects or on the merits or demerits of the case," noted the Court.

In this backdrop, the Court ruled thus:

"The question whether or not the imputation was made for public good would therefore be a question of fact which would be required to be proved by the accused to seek the benefit of the first exception to Section 499. The defence in this regard being a question of fact, can be decided during trial only and the benefit of the first exception cannot be claimed at the stage of issuance of summons."

Case title - Rajesh Churiwala v.­ State of U.P. and Another

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