IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Cr.Misc. No.50352 of 2007 1. Sumit Sen , Editor, at 105/7A, S.N.Banerjje Road, Kolkata- 700014 and Times of India House, Frazer Road,Patna-800 001. 2. Ravi Dayal @ Ravishwar Dayal, the Correspondent. Times of India, Times of India House, Frazer Road,Patna-800 001 3. Raj Kumar, Assistant Resident Editor , Times of India, Frazer Road,Patna-800 001 ------------------- Petitioners Versus 1. THE STATE OF BIHAR 2. Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority having its office at present at Indira Bhawan, 6th & 7th Floor, Ram Chandra Singh Path, Boaring Road, District-Patna through its Development Officer --------------- Opp.Parties. -------------- For the petitioners : Mr. Chakradhari Sharan Singh, Advocate For the State : Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhaya, A.P.P. For Opp.Party no.2 : Mr. Sharad Kumar Sinha, Advocate --------------- O R D E R This application has been preferred by Editor, News Correspondents and Assistant Resident Editor of the news daily , Times of India , who along with others have been arrayed as accused in Complaint Case No.1924(M) of 2007 and have prayed for the quashing of the order dated 23.6.2007 passed therein by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna, whereby he has taken cognizance of the offences under Sections 500,501,502,109 and 120B/34 I.P.C. , as also Section 14 of the Press and Registration Books Act,1867 - 2 - (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) The complaint appears to have been filed by the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority ( hereinafter referred to as “the BIADA”), through its Assistant Development Officer, whose name has not been disclosed, impleaded herein as Opp.Party no.2, alleging publication of a news item published in the news daily dated 21.6.2007, which according to the complainant was scandalous, defamatory, mischievous and malicious and an effort to degrade in the eyes of the public and the complainant authority. The relevant defamatory news item was as follows: (i) Patna High Court presided over by Justice Mridula Mishra on Wednesday passed an interim order of stay on auction of Small Scale Industrial Units (SSIs) in the Patliputra Industrial Area and Estate in Patna. (ii) Hearing 16 writ petitions of Industrialist,whose industrial units had been put on auction , Justice Mishra directed the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) to put on hold the auction till July19. (iii) The court also directed the BIADA not to take any coercive action against the SSIs whose registration was cancelled in the past. (iv) Shiv Mill (a flour mill) had moved a letters patent Appeal in the Patna High Court against cancellation of its registration by BIADA. The High Court has allowed it six months time to revive it by June 26,2007 But BIADA had violated even the High Court order by putting - 3 - this industry on auction. (v) Some of the closed units had the potential to revive but the BIADA chose to tread a murderous path to annihilate the runed and sick industries and displace them with new industries. (vi) BIADA’s hurry to go in for auction of the sick/closed SSIs smacks of its bad intention to uproot the existing industries etc. It may not be out of place to mention here that two other complaint petitions of similar nature had been filed by the self-same complainant for certain News items published in the same Newspaper, which were numbered as Complaint Case No.1968(M) of 2007 and Complaint Case No.1854(M) of 2007, wherein cognizance were taken. The order of cognizance was impugned before this Court in Cr.Misc.No.49987 of 2007 and Cr.Misc.No.50002 of 2007 respectively and this Court by order dated 18.8.2009 quashed the orders taking cognizance. Since the question involved in this case is similar in nature and context to those in Cr.Misc.No.49987 of 2007 and Cr.Misc.No.50002 of 2007, similar benefits must follow. Accordingly this application is also allowed and the impugned order taking cognizance, so far as the petitioners are concerned, is hereby quashed. ( Abhijit Sinha, J ) Patna High Court, Patna Dated : the 20th August,2009 Nawal Kishore Singh/ A.F.R. - 4 -