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Hon’ble Justice G.R Swaminathan of Madras High Court in the recent case of K. Rajanarayanan v. P. Kathiresan and State of Tamil Nadu passed an Order that magistrate cannot order to register of FIR in free speech cases. Remarking that taking offence had become a fashion, the court said that the magistrate, at the complaint stage, will have to see if the allegation made in the complainant are so absurd based on which no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion.
Reliance was placed on Perumal Murugan Case[1] in which the court said that:
“It is true that at the complaint stage, the Magistrate is merely concerned with the allegations made out in the complaint. He has only to prima facie satisfy whether there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused. It is not his province to venture into a detailed discussion on the merits or demerits of the case. The Magistrate has to decide the question purely from the point of view of the complaint without at all adverting to any defence that the accused may have. He is not expected to embark upon a detailed discussion. But the above said yardstick and standard cannot be so mechanically applied even in matters that have clear and direct implications on free speech. Neither the Magistrate nor the Police should exhibit alacrity to take cognizance or register a case in such matters. Every time they receive such complaints, they must dust their knowledge of the law relating to free speech.”
Court further referred the case of D.P.Vats vs. State of Delhi[2] in which court stated that “the word ‘a member’ occurring in section 3(1) (x) of the Act assumes crucial importance in this context and leaves no scope for doubt that it must be directed against the individual member and not against a group of members of the crowd or the public in general though these may comprise of SC/ST. The Court said that it is an abuse of the law process and quash the FIR and allowed the petition.
[1] (2016) 4 CTC 561
[2] (2002) ILR 2 Del 237
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