Customs ADC wins Defamation case against noted journalists
THE Complainant Mr. Ajay Ganesh Ubale was functioning as Addl. Commissioner of Central Excise and was repatriated in the Year-2000 from the office of Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau. The complainant hails from an eminent and respectable family out of which many members have served in Senior Government posts. His wife is a practicing Doctor and his father and father-in-law retired as an Inspector General of Police of Maharashtra. His brother is an IAS Officer serving as Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra. The complainant passed the civil service examination till 1988 and was selected to the Indian Custom and Central Excise Service (Group A). The Revenue Secretary, Govt. of India commended his work and due to his outstanding service record, he was posted as Zonal Director of Mumbai Unit of NCB and under his Directorship surpassed its previous performance in the Year-2000.
The Hindustan Times Company is the owner of Hindustan Times, a national daily newspaper published from New Delhi. The said newspaper has a fairly large circulation in Mumbai having bureau office in Mumbai. The accused are:
1] Shobhana Bhartia, Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director,
2] Vir Sanghvi, Editorial Director,
3] Arun Roy Choudhary, Resident Editor,
4] Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Author and News Reporter,
5] Kumkum Chadda, Sub-Editor,
6] Rakesh Sharma, Publisher and Printer
of the Hindustan Times.
The complaint is that the accused published a defamatory article, "Mumbai NCB Chief under CBI Scanner". The newspaper reported that:
i] "This time, the Mumbai Chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Ajay G. Ubale, a Customs Officer on deputation to NCB, is being investigated by the CBI and the Finance Ministry for alleged extortion and trying to frame an individual for drug trafficking."
ii] "NCB investigators from Mumbai, in a report to the Finance Ministry, confirmed that Ubale tried to extort and book an innocent person."
iii] "Dubey filed a complaint with the CBI alleging that the Zonal Deputy Director had demanded Rs. 5 lakh. The agency searched Ubale's office and seized some documents."
The complainant says that these three statements are totally false and accused have knowledge about the same.
The complainant contacted the Mumbai representative and accused Nos. 3 to 5 at New Delhi office making numerous calls. In the afternoon of 04/12/2001, the complainant contacted New Delhi office and spoke to accused Nos. 3 to 5 and informed them about correct facts. The accused No.5 asked the complainant to send his version by E-mail and the complainant did the same. He has also told accused No.5 that Mumbai representative was apprised of true and entire picture. However, the accused did not publish it and nor retracted the false and defamatory articles.
The Court after a detailed analysis of the evidence and law held that the three statements contained imputations defamatory to the complainant.
The Court acquitted accused No.1 Shobhana Bhartia and accused No.5 Kumkum Chhadda.
The accused No.2 Vir Sanghvi, accused No. 3 Arun Roy Choudhary, accused No. 4 Sudhi Ranjan Sen and accused No.6 Rakesh Sharma were convicted of the offence punishable U/Sec.- 500 r/w. 34 of the Indian Penal Code vide section 255 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and sentenced to suffer Simple Imprisonment for the period of 1 month each and also to pay a fine of Rs. 3000/- each in default to suffer S.I. for a period of 10 days each. They were awarded similar sentences under different sections, but the substantive sentences awarded to the accused on all the counts shall run concurrently.
It is learnt that the convicted journalists have taken bail. And the matter will move to the next stage of appeal.
The perseverance and courage of this IRS officer who took on the might of giants like CBI and the powerful media is amazing as he was engaged in litigation in CAT, CIC and courts. This particular case took nearly ten years to be decided at a Metropolitan Court level.