Karnataka High Court quashes criminal defamation case against former judge Michael Saldanha

The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal defamation case filed against former judge of the High Courts of Bombay and Karnataka, Justice MF Saldanha..Justice NS Sanjay Gowda quashed the case after Justice Saldanha tendered an unconditional apology and undertook to not precipitate the matter further. .The case was registered based on a complaint filed by Advocate MP Noronha from Bangalore, leading to criminal charges against Saldanha and others for offences under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC, read with Section 66 (computer related offences) of the Information Technology Act. The case revolved around a press conference held by Justice Saldanha concerning the alleged injustice faced by Baptist D'Souza, whose house was demolished by Jesuit priests from St Aloysius College, Mangalore. The press conference addressed the alleged police inaction, which purportedly resulted in severe property damage and the molestation of D'Souza's two daughters.The complaint alleged that this press conference had significantly harmed the reputation of Noronha. Initially, the private complaint was referred to the police for investigation. However, finding no substantial evidence, the police filed a closure report.Noronha challenged this report, presenting a sworn statement and relevant documents to the court. Given the severity of the allegations, a criminal case was registered against Justice Saldanha and others. This led to Justice Saldanha moving the High Court for quashing the case..Appearing for the retired judge, Advocate Dilraj Rohit Sequeira argued that the issuance of the summons was bad in law as the elements required to invoke the offences were absent and that there was no likelihood of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.He further argued that there was no intent to defame or damage Noronha's reputation. The press conference, it was argued, aimed solely to highlight police irregularities and their alleged collusion with the Jesuit priests, not to defame Noronha.An affidavit was submitted by Justice Saldanha offering an unconditional apology and stating he would not pursue the matter further.The Court acknowledged Justice Saldanha's advanced age and limited mobility, accepted his affidavit, and quashed the proceedings against him. The Court also quashed criminal proceedings in the same case against a co-accused, PB D'sa since he had also submitted an apology in the matter. However, the Court declined to quash the case against two others accused in the same matter since they had not submitted any such apology. "This petition is therefore, allowed in part. The proceedings as against accused Nos.4 (PB D'sa) and 3 (Michael Saldanha) in C.C.No.3902/2016 in P.C.No.52/2024 on the file of the II Judicial Magistrate I Class, Mangalore, for the offences punishable under Sections 384, 385, 389, 500, 501 and 506 read with Section 34 of the IPC shall stand quashed. The proceedings against accused Nos.5 and 6 shall however continue," the Court's July 3 order stated. .Advocate Dilraj Rohit Sequeria represented the petitioners, High Court Government Pleader Rashmi Patel appeared for the State while Advocate Cyril Prasad Pais appeared for a private respondent. .[Read Order]