Illiterate witness exposes complainant in court!

Sangrur, February 8 (Sukhwinder Singh Bawa): In a landmark verdict in a defamation case that has been going on since 2019, the local court has acquitted all the accused, including the newspaper owner and journalists. Disposing of the case filed by Avtar Singh Chhajali against a newspaper owner, journalists Harinderpal Singh Khalsa and Baldev Singh Januha from Ludhiana, the court found that the complainant has failed to prove the charges.

Lawyer of the accused journalists, Dasvinir Singh Dalli, said that the most interesting twist during the hearing of the case came when the only independent witness presented by the complainant turned out to be illiterate in the court.

Avtar Singh Chhajali had claimed that the person had given him information after reading the news, but in the court, that witness clarified that he did not know how to read. Advocate Dalli said that the court held that when the witness cannot read the newspaper, the question of defamation does not arise, because the news did not come to the knowledge of any third person.

The court noted in its judgment that mere production of newspaper cuttings cannot be considered evidence. The complainant could not produce any documentary evidence in the court to prove that the news in question was published or circulated in the public domain. Moreover, no inquiry was conducted with the publisher, editor or printer of the newspaper, due to which the essential elements of defamation remained unestablished.

Advocate Dalli said that after discussing the matter seriously, the court said that the complainant has completely failed to prove the offence under sections 500, 501, 502 and 120-B (IPC). As per the law, the burden of proof lies on the complainant and the benefit of doubt always goes to the accused. In view of this, the court has acquitted the newspaper’s editor, journalist, and the victim journalist of all charges.

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