Badal faces defamation trial for calling Sikh outfit a ‘front of BKI’

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana HC has refused to quash a criminal defamation complaint against former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal by Akhand Kirtani Jatha (AKJ) spokesperson Rajinder Pal Singh, and directed the trial before a Chandigarh court may proceed “uninfluenced by its observations”.

A bench of Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya held that, prima facie, imputations made by Badal linking the religious organisation to terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) were capable of lowering the complainant’s reputation.In its detailed order, HC made it clear that Badal’s statement suggesting AKJ was “a political front of Babbar Khalsa International” was not mere political rhetoric but prima facie defamatory in nature.

HC was also of the view that the complainant, as AKJ spokesperson, could legitimately feel hurt by such imputations, which directly affected his standing in society. Rejecting Badal’s contention that AKJ was not an identifiable group, HC held its existence and identity were acknowledged even by the petitioner himself, and its composition could be proved during trial.“In case the association a person is part of has been publicly termed as an organisation directly linked to terrorists, he/she has a reason to feel hurt about it as terrorism is an unlawful activity, associated with violence and extremism unacceptable in a civilised society...

It would, in all probability, harm such a person’s reputation and paint him in a bad light amongst friends and the public at large,” Justice Dahiya said.HC further ruled the complaint filed in Chandigarh was maintainable since newspapers carrying the impugned statements were circulated in the city, thus giving rise to jurisdiction. Justice Dahiya observed the complaint disclosed sufficient material to proceed under sections 500 and 501 of IPC, and that the magistrate’s cognisance was validly taken.Badal challenged the order dated March 4, 2020, passed by the judicial magistrate first-class, Chandigarh, which summoned him to face trial under sections 500 and 501 of IPC for defamation. Badal’s main plea before HC was that the criminal defamation complaint filed against him by Singh was not legally maintainable because the complainant was not a “person aggrieved” under Section 199(1) of CrPC and the alleged statements did not personally defame him.