Rajeev Jhawar v. the State of Jharkhand

Jharkhand HC9 May 2024W.P.(Cr.)/21/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Quashing of FIR; writ of Certiorari; criminal writ petition; W.P. (Cr.) No.21 of 2024; High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi; Rajesh Kumar, J.; decided 9th May, 2024; Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 dated 03.01.2024; sections 469, 501 and 502 Indian Penal Code; Prabhat Khabar Daily Newspaper; Chief Editor, Resident Editor, Assistant Senior Editor; false news; two wives; next-day front-page corrigendum; conceived as defamatory; cross-FIR Sadar P.S. Case No.564 of 2023; threat on phone; confusion between parties; no intention, no offence made out; pending I.A. disposed of.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition allowed; criminal proceeding in connection with Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 pending before the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ranchi quashed and set aside; pending I.A. also disposed of. ¶¶21

Rajeev Jhawar Vs the State of Jharkhand — Jharkhand HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the entire criminal proceedings including the FIR in Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 (offences under sections 469, 501 and 502 IPC) ought to be quashed by way of a writ of Certiorari, i.e., whether any offence is made out.

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Court's answer

Prima facie it appears that there is some confusion between the parties.

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Ratio / Principle

Upon hearing learned counsel and perusal of the record, the Court found that there is no intention and, as such, no offence is made out.

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Key takeaways

The writ petition stands allowed and the criminal proceeding in connection with Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024, pending before the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ranchi, is quashed and set aside.ratio¶¶21

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi (Rajesh Kumar, J.), allowed W.P. (Cr.) No. 21 of 2024 and quashed the entire criminal proceeding including the FIR in Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 dated 03.01.2024, registered under sections 469, 501 and 502 of the Indian Penal Code and pending before the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ranchi. The FIR arose from a Prabhat Khabar news report to the effect that one Jogendra Tiwary had two wives; the news was contradicted the very next day by a front-page corrigendum in bold letters, yet the corrigendum was conceived as defamatory and the FIR lodged. A companion FIR (Sadar P.S. Case No.564 of 2023) had been lodged by the paper publishing house against Jogendra Tiwary alleging threats on phone. Finding prima facie some confusion between the parties, and that there was no intention and hence no offence made out, the Court allowed the petition, quashed and set aside the proceeding, and disposed of the pending I.A. (Decided 9th May, 2024.)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI

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W.P. (Cr.) No.21 of 2024

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Rajeev Jhawar	….	….	Petitioner

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Versus

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The State of Jharkhand

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2. Jogendra Tiwari	….	….	Respondents

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CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH KUMAR

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For the Petitioner	---- :Mr. Sumeet Gadodia, Adv. Mr. Ritesh Kumar Gupta, Adv. Mr. Prakhar Harit, Adv.
	Ms. Shruti Shekhar, Adv.
	Mr. K.Hari, Adv.
For the Resp.-State	:Mr. Manoj Kumar, GA-III
For the Resp. No.2	:Mr. Pandey Neeraj Rai, Adv.

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04/Dated:9^th May, 2024

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1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

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2. The present writ petition has been filed for following relief: “(i) For issuance of an appropriate writ, order, direction, particularly a Writ in the nature of Certiorari for quashing of the entire criminal proceedings including First Information Report in connection with Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 dated 03.01.2024 [Annexure-1] registered for the offences punishable under sections 469, 501 and 502 of Indian Penal Code. The case is at present pending in the court of Sri D.N. Shukla, learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Ranchi.”

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3. Two F.I.Rs. are involved in the present case being Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024 & Sadar P.S. Case No.564 of 2023.

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4. It appears that one F.I.R. is against the Chief Editor, Resident Editor and the Assistant Senior Editor of Prabhat Khabar Daily Newspaper for publishing a false news to the extent that it has been reported that one Jogendra Tiwary was having two wives.

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It further appear that news has been contradicted on the very next day by publishing corrigendum at the front page in bold letter but that has been conceived as defamatory. Accordingly the F.I.R. has been lodged.

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So far as F.I.R. lodged against Jogendra Tiwary is concerned it has been lodged by paper publishing house alleging that he has threatened on phone.

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5. Thus, prima facie it appears that there is some confusion between the parties.

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6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and from perusal of record, it appears that there is no intention and as such no offence is made out.

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7. Accordingly, the present writ petition stands allowed. Criminal proceeding in connection with Khelgaon P.S. Case No. 02 of 2024, pending in the learned J.M.1^st Class, Ranchi is, hereby, quashed and set aside.

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8. With above observation, the present criminal writ petition stands disposed of.

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9. Pending I.A. also stands disposed of.

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(Rajesh Kumar, J.)

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Shahid /- uploaded

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W.P.(Cr) No.21 of 2024

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