The Supreme Court has decided to examine whether a printer and publisher of a newspaper or journal can be held liable for criminal defamation, if the editor has already been identified in as accused in a complaint.
A bench of Justices comprising of P. Sathasivam and J. Chelameswar felt that it was an important question of law which needs to be examined by it.
The bench said while framing the issues to be examined that the important question which arouse was, in a case of a complaint under Section 499, 500 and 506 of Indian Penal Code, the publisher of a newspaper is a necessary party in the said proceedings apart from the editor who has been shown as one of the accused.
The bench's order came on a plea by a Punjabi Kesari reporter, Dal Singh Roherian, challenging the exclusion of the publisher of Dainik Baskar newspaper by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a defamation case filed by him.
The High Court had quashed the summons issued to the publisher on the ground that he was not a necessary party as the editor had already been cited as an accused in the defamation complaint filed under Sections 499 (criminal defamation), 500 (punishment for criminal defamation), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Roherian, a reporter with Punjab Kesari, was aggreived by the publication of a defamatory news against him by Dainik Bhaskar.
He alleged that the news items was published with malafide intention to harm his reputation and to lower his image.
On his complaint, the Kaithal Judicial Magistrate had issued summons to three persons including printer-cum-publisher Ramesh Chand Aggarwal.
After the Sessions Court declined to interfere with the order, the publisher filed a revision petition and the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the summons issued to him by the lower court.
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