Reproducing chargesheet in reply filed during service case is not defamation: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that when a reply filed by a litigant in a service case contains the contents of a chargesheet prepared during departmental proceedings, it would not constitute the offence of defamation. [Dr. Pawan Kumar v. MK Sinha].Justice Vivek Rusia added that a party to a case is always permitted to take all “plausible” defences in the judicial proceedings..The judge made the observation while quashing a summons issued against two officers of Narmada Control Authority (NCA) in a defamation case initiated by one Dr. Pawan Kumar, who was a director in the NCA.Dr. Kumar alleged that the two NCA officers defamed him by citing the contents of a forged chargesheet in a reply filed by the officers before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in response to a service case initiated by Kumar..The High Court, however, found that the chargesheet was not forged. The proceeded to quash the summons on finding that no case for defamation was made out. "Filing the reply or return in a service matter by the OIC in which contents of the charge-sheet were reproduced cannot said to be a case of defamation ... If the OIC or the head of the department are prosecuted like this, no return / reply would be filed in any matter before the Court by the Government Department," the Court held. .The case before the High Court concerned a private defamation complaint filed by Dr. Pawan Kumar against two NCA officers, Dr. MK Sinha and Hemant Pandey.Kumar had earlier aspired to be appointed as a Member (E&R) in the NCA. However, another candidate was selected for the post, prompting Kumar to initiate several rounds of litigation challenging such selection. Between 2013 and 2017, Kumar lost his case at different forums including the Supreme Court. Later, he was issued a chargesheet in a departmental proceeding. In 2019, the CAT dismissed his case challenging these proceedings.Notably, the chargesheet was reproduced in a reply filed by the NCA officers before the CAT..Kumar, in turn, accused the two officers, Sinha and Pandey, of forging this document to damage his case in CAT and to defame him in public. He moved a defamation complaint before a judicial magistrate first class, alleging that Pandey and Sinha had conspired to make such defamatory allegations. .The High Court, however, found that the reply in question simply reproduced the chargesheet. Thus, the Court said that no defamation case was made out. “The complainant might have enough time and money to waste but he cannot be permitted to waste the valuable time of the Court / CAT where important matters of needy persons are pending for years together awaiting adjudication,” the Court added, while quashing the proceedings against Sinha and Pandey..Senior Advocate Shobna Menon and Advocate Tousif Warsi represented Dr. MK Sinha and Hamant Pandey.Advocate Manu Maheshwari represented Dr. Pawan Kumar..[Read Order]