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Judgment
P.G. Agarwal, J.—Heard Sri M.K. Choudhury, learned Counsel for the Petitioner. None has appeared for the Respondents.
This is an application u/s 482 Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing of Complaint Case No. 3148/98 u/s 499/500/34 IPC, pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Kamrup, Guwahati.
The facts leading to the present petition in brief are that in GR Case No. 4475/1995, pending in the Court of Addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup, Guwahati, the Petitioner Rajen Chandra Choudhury, deposed as PW-1 on 3.4.1998 and is alleged to have made the following statements in Court.
...Out of the whole staff who was striking, Sri Santanu Borthakur, Smti. Dharitri Sarma, Sri Pradeep Ghosh and Smti. Runu Deka had forcibly obstructed us namely Bhaskar Bamah, S.K. Ajitsaria, the then President, Mr. J.K. Jain, Director of Exchange and Ors. were prevented from entering our office.
The Respondents claimed that the above portion of the evidence of the PW-1 was false and not correct. The other Petitioners also gave similar depositions in the Court in the above GR case and according to the complainant all the depositions are false and not correct. The Petitioners therefore, filed a complaint case alleging defamation, that the above statement amounts to lowering the status of the Petitioner in eyes of the public. The fate of the GR case is not known.
The Petitioner accused before us has prayed for quashing of the complaint mainly on the ground that unless there is finding by the Trial Court that the depositions given by the PW-1 are false or defamatory, no complaint lies.
I find force in the above submissions as because the complainant cannot be given the liberty to judge the reliability of the evidence adduced by the witnesses in the Court, otherwise witnesses will be, under great peril while deposing in the Court. It is for the Court to decide whether the portion of the deposition given by the witnesses is false or incorrect and unless there is finding to that effect, the prosecution of the witnesses is premature.
Accordingly, the revision petition is allowed, and further proceedings is quashed.