NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has quashed the criminal defamation proceedings against senior advocate and former MP Pinaki Misra for allegedly calling a lawyer a “crook” and “blackmailer”.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma set aside a 2019 summoning order issued by a magistrate’s court, observing that the complainant had examined only himself during pre-summoning evidence and produced no independent witness to establish that the alleged remarks had damaged his reputation.
“This court is of the view that permitting the criminal proceedings to continue would not advance the cause of justice and would instead subject the petitioner to the rigours of a criminal trial in the absence of sufficient foundational material,” the judge said in an order passed on August 25.
According to the complaint, advocate Siddhartha Singh approached the Bar Council of Delhi in August 2018, alleging professional misconduct by Misra during his appearances for power distribution companies before the National Green Tribunal.
After the dispute was reported in a newspaper, Misra allegedly gave an interview to a news portal in January 2019, during which he allegedly used the terms “crook” and “blackmailer”. Siddhartha subsequently filed a defamation complaint against him.
While quashing the case, the judge said Singh, having examined himself as the sole witness, had not placed material to prima facie show that the alleged imputation had lowered his reputation in the estimation of others, as contemplated under Explanation 4 to Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code.
Also in court
Sukesh moves HC against conviction
Alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar has moved the High Court challenging his conviction for impersonating a Supreme Court judge to influence a special judge in a 2017 corruption case. Sukesh has also sought deletion of “derogatory, pejorative, stigmatic and unnecessary observations” about his character from the trial court judgment.
