Madanjit Kumar v. J P Singh
In the High Court of Delhi
Crl. M.C. 76/2018
Before Justice R K Gauba
Decided on January 23, 2019

Relevancy of the case: Defamation suit for initiating disciplinary proceedings based on involvement in pornography and flesh trade through the internet

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66A)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 499, 500)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 209, 482)
• The Constitution of India, 1950 (Article 227)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The applicant was employed as Senior Technical Assistant in Central Electronics Limited (hereinafter referred to as CEL, the fourth respondent) on December 10, 1993, and was promoted to the post of Manager (Public Relations) and Senior Manager (Public Relations) over the term of employment.
• He alleges that the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (Hereinafter referred to as CMD) had a personal grudge against him resulting in his transfer from Sahibabad, UP to the Bangalore Office.
• On August 16, 2012, he was served with a charge sheet under cover of an “open letter” and charges being that he was engaged in pornography and flesh trade through the internet.
• Applicant filed FIR 416/2012 alleging that offences under Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000 having been committed by someone, the subject matter being content of material on the website on basis of which he was facing disciplinary action.
• The FIR did not result in prosecution, and subsequently, the disciplinary action against the petitioner was closed. He was exonerated with all accusations.
• The petitioner filed a petition accusing the respondents of defamation in front of the Metropolitan Magistrate and the Sessions Court which rejected it due to lack of supporting evidence. Thus, the current petition was filed invoking the inherent powers of the High Court to quash the proceedings.

Final Decision

• Petition dismissed.

This case summary has been prepared by Neelangini Tiwari, an undergraduate student at Kirori Mal College, DU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.