Gujarat High Court
Parmar Rameshbhai Kamabhai vs State Of Gujarat on 10 July, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL) NO. 17081
of 2023
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PARMAR RAMESHBHAI KAMABHAI
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
URVESH M PRAJAPATI(8878) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR PRANAV DHAGAT, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO
Date : 10/07/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. The present application is filed by the applicant - original complainant under Section 378(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short "Cr.P.C.") seeking leave to file an appeal against the judgment and order dated 31.05.2023 passed by the learned 2nd Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mahesana (hereinafter referred to as the "learned Trial Court") in Criminal Case No. 8338 of 2017, whereby the respondent Nos. 2 to 4 - original accused came to be acquitted from the offence under Section 500 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereafter referred to as "IPC" for short).
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NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined 1.1 The respondent Nos. 2 to 4 are hereinafter referred to as "the accused" in the rank and file as they stood in the original case for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.
2. The brief facts culled out from the memo of the present application as well as the impugned judgment and order and record and proceedings are as under:
2.1. The complainant Rameshbhai Kamabhai Parmar was working as State Bureau Chief, Gujarat in Lemon National News Channel and was also the editor of "Satya Na Prayogo" a weekly magazine. The accused No. 1 is the editor and the accused No. 2 is the executive editor of the daily newspaper "Divya Bhaskar" and the accused no. 3 is a Crime Reporter for "Divya Bhaskar". On 26/11/2013, a news article was published regarding the arrest of a mastermind in a conspiracy to kill a builder of Bahucharaji on page no.09 of daily newspaper "Divya Bhaskar" Gujarat edition and the accused no. 3 had done the reporting work done for the daily newspaper Divya Bhaskar. As per the complainant the news on false facts defaming the applicant was published in the daily Page 2 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined newspaper, which was distributed all over the state of Gujarat including Mahesana City and the said news spoiled the reputation of the applicant amongst the people, who knew the applicant. The applicant has filed complaint under Section 500, 501, 502 and 114 of IPC which was registered as Criminal Inquiry No.611 of 2013, which culminated into Criminal Case No.8338 of 2017. 2.2. The accused were served with the summons and appeared before the learned Trial Court and their pleas were recorded at Exhs.27 to 29 and the evidence of the applicant was taken on record. The applicant has examined 03 witnesses and produced 04 documentary evidences in support of his case and after the closing pursis was filed, the further statement of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was recorded, wherein the accused have denied the publication of any false news and stated that the news published was as per the police report and have not defamed the complainant. The accused refused to stepped into the witness box but examined Police Inspector J. H. Sindhav as a defence witness. After the evidence of the accused was closed, the arguments of the learned advocates for Page 3 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined both the parties were heard and by the impugned judgment and order, the learned Trial Court was pleased to acquit the accused from the offence under Section 500 of the IPC.
3. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the same, the applicant has preferred the present application seeking leave to appeal mainly stating that the learned Trial Court has passed the impugned judgment and order, which is based on erroneous view of law. The learned Trial Court has erred in dealing with the evidence as well as the conclusive proof that are manifestly unjust and unreasonable. The learned Trial Court has not appreciated the evidence adduced by the prosecution and the depositions of the witnesses appropriately and has used different yardsticks for consideration of evidence relied upon by both the sides. The learned Trial Court has erred in passing the impugned judgment though the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubts.
4. Heard learned advocate Mr.Urvesh Prajapati for the applicant and learned APP Mr. Pranav Dhagat for the respondent - Page 4 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined State. Perused the impugned judgment and order of acquittal and have re-appreciated the entire evidence of the prosecution on record of the case.
5. Learned Advocate Mr.Urvesh Prajapati for the applicant submits that the learned Trial Court has passed the impugned judgment and order which is based on erroneous view of law. The learned Trial Court has not properly appreciated the evidence, which are cogent, clear and convincing and has misread the evidence and the impugned judgment is perverse, erroneous and contrary to law. The learned Trial Court has not believed the role of the accused, which is established and proved before the learned Trial Court by the original complainant and other witnesses, who have produced a catena of evidence and also the evidence that the accused had malafidely and intentionally get the news published on false, fabricated and concocted story about the complainant. The learned Trial Court has erred in holding that the evidences produced by the complainant and witnesses are not sufficient to inspire the confidence. The learned Trial Court has passed the impugned judgment and the order of acquittal, which Page 5 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined is absolutely illegal, unjust, improper, perverse, contrary to the materials on record, palpably wrong, manifestly erroneous and demonstrably unsustainable and the same is required to be interfered with by this Hon'ble Court. Learned advocate has urged this Court that the leave to appeal may be granted.
6. Learned APP Mr. Pranav Dhagat for the respondent - State has submitted that the learned Trial Court has appreciated all the evidence in detail in light of the citations referred to in the judgment and has passed the judgment and order of acquittal which is proper and no interference is required and hence the application for leave to appeal may be rejected.
7. In the present case, the applicant has approached this Court, seeking redressal for an alleged defamation. It is well- settled law that in order to sustain action for defamation, two crucial elements must be established viz (i) the existence of a defamatory text; and (ii) its publicity. Furthermore, it must be demonstrated that such defamatory content has caused actual harm to the reputation of the applicant within society. So far as the Page 6 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined evidence produced by the applicant to prove the defamatory text published against the applicant in the newspaper is concerned, it has come on record that the applicant was released on anticipatory bail in connection with the FIR being I-C.R.No.86 of 2013 lodged against him with Bahucharaji Police Station and no false fact in the paper has been published that the applicant has been arrested by the L.C.B. Police. The complainant of the FIR being I-C.R.No.86 of 2013 has stated that for the land bearing Survey Nos. 408 and 409/2 has been documented for many years and its owners are the present owners and on 09.08.2011, one Patel Jayantibhai sold this land to Parmar Rameshbhai Kamabhai and others and the owners and occupiers of the above referred land have filed six FIRs against the present applicant and others. Admittedly, the applicant came to be arrested in connection with FIR being I-C.R.No.94 of 2013, and witness Jitendrasinh Hirabhai Sindhav, Police Sub Inspector, examined at Exh.76, has stated that several FIRs, including one under Section 307 of the IPC, have been registered against the applicant; however, the applicant has not challenged the veracity of these FIRs, which remains uncontroverted. So far as the Page 7 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined publication of his defamatory text in the newspaper and the reputation of the applicant in the society is concerned, the applicant has not examined Jadav Chiragkumar Ganpatbhai and Barot Rameshbhai Haribhai, who met him in the court. There is no iota of evidence that the applicant was dismissed as State Bureau Chief from the Lemon National Chanel and also an amount of Rs.10,00,000/- as deposit was confiscated. With respect to the publication of the allegedly defamatory article, it is clear that the text published in the newspaper was based on the police complaint filed against the applicant. There is no persuasive evidence to establish that the article itself caused harm to the applicant's reputation. The mere publication of the article, based on an official police complaint, does not, in this instance, amount to defamation.
8. In light of the above, it is apparent that the applicant has failed to prove the essential elements of defamation beyond a reasonable doubt. The Trial Court, after considering and appreciating the evidence in its entirety, has rightly concluded that the prosecution's case was not substantiated by the requisite proof Page 8 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/17081/2023 ORDER DATED: 10/07/2025 undefined and, therefore, has acquitted the accused from the charges. For the aforesaid reasons, this Court does not find any merits in the present application and hence, the same stands dismissed.
9. Record and proceedings be sent to the concerned Trial Court forthwith.
10. In view of the order passed in the captioned Criminal Misc. Application, Criminal Appeal No. 28639 of 2023, which is at filing stage, stands disposed of accordingly.
(S. V. PINTO,J) F.S. KAZI Page 9 of 9 Uploaded by F.S. KAZI(HC01075) on Thu Jul 10 2025 Downloaded on : Thu Jul 10 22:38:54 IST 2025