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The court observed that the initial cognizance and the order of issuance of the process were bad in law.
The Calcutta High Court has recently dismissed a Public Prosecutor's defamation case against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Court observed that the initial cognizance and the order of issuance of the process were bad in law.
While hearing a revision plea to quash the defamation case filed against MLA and the leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, the bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri said, “Without going into the merit of the case this Court fails to understand as to how the learned Chief Judge took cognizance of the offence in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay’s case to the effect that a criminal case shall have to be instituted and tried before the competent Court of the learned Magistrate.”
Court noted that the Public Prosecutor of the City Sessions Court had filed a complaint with the Chief Judge of the City Sessions Court alleging violation of the Indian Penal Code Sections 499 and 500.
It noted that the case was "exclusively triable by the Special Magistrate or the Special Judge for the trial of cases involving MPs and MLAs in the State of West Bengal."
Justice Chaudhari added that the high court has "issued detailed guidelines in [Dr.Nirmal Maji vs. Dr.Kunal Saha] CRR No. 1086/2022 regarding the constitution of such (Special) Court in the State of West Bengal, and by virtue of two notifications dated 6th March 2018 and 27th January 2021, a special court to try Magistrate triable and sessions triable cases has been established in the State of West Bengal"
Accordingly, court quashed the complaint case pending before the Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, Calcutta. "The complainant is at liberty to take back the written complaint and file the same in the appropriate Court," the court added.
Case Title: Suvendu Adhikari vs. The State of West Bengal
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