LI Network
Published on: December 14, 2023 at 15:30 IST
The Karnataka High Court has determined that when defendants in a declaration suit deny their relationship with the deceased, such statements do not constitute defamation.
In a recent ruling, Justice Shivashankar Amarannawar, sitting as a single-judge bench, granted a petition and dismissed proceedings initiated under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code by the respondents.
The case involved Asif Musthaheen, one of the daughters of Fakkiravva W/o Huchchappa Lakkanavar, who, along with her sisters and mother, filed a declaration suit in 2016.
The suit sought a declaration that a sale deed executed in favor of the second petitioner was void ab initio and asserted the plaintiffs’ absolute ownership of certain properties. The petitioner, in her written statement, denied the relationship of the plaintiffs with the deceased, leading to allegations of defamatory imputations.
The High Court, while allowing the petition and quashing the proceedings, clarified that the statements made in the written statement were not per se defamatory, and therefore, the plea of good faith was applicable.
Justice Amarannawar stated, “I hold that this is not a case where the statements are per se defamatory so as to disallow the plea of good faith at this stage so as to allow the respondent to go ahead with the prosecution.”
The ruling emphasized that the mere denial of a relationship in a civil suit does not automatically amount to defamation.
The court further asserted that the civil court should decide the relevance of such averments to the core issues of the suit and, if necessary, the respondent can approach the criminal court after obtaining a finding from the civil court.
The court concluded that the statements made by the petitioners were relevant to the issues involved in the suit, and their truthfulness would be decided by the civil court. Therefore, the proceedings under Section 500 of the IPC were quashed.
Advocate B.S. Kukanagoudar represented the petitioners, while Advocate S.L. Matti appeared for the respondent in this case titled “Yallappa & Another AND Kallavva Kuriyavar” (CRIMINAL PETITION NO.100331 OF 2023).