In the High Court of Calcutta
Plaintiff- Tushar Kanti Ghosh
Defendant- Bina Bhowmick
Facts
The alleged article "Patrika Copies Looted: Another Daylight Robbery by Discharged Employees" was published by Amrit Bazar Patrika's newspaper editor (TK Ghosh-defendant-appellant) naming Bina Bhowmick (plaintiff-respondent) as the Union leader & controller of 'Mrs. Bhowmick's Union' whose members and hirelings committed daylight robbery.
It further asserted that 'Mrs. Bhowmick's Union is not a Union at all, but was purposefully associated with a Central Union as a ruse'. The plaintiff brought a defamation claim against the defendant for alleged libel. The defendant was found guilty of defamation by the Trial Court because the publication contained defamatory allegations about the plaintiff personally. Defendant went beyond the bounds of fair remark, and it was motivated by malice. The court awarded the plaintiff Rs. 5000/- in compensation and issued an order to prevent the defendants from publishing the libellous comments about the plaintiff in the future. This is the defendants' appeal before this Court.
Issues
1. Was the publication libellous, or defamatory?
2. Whether the defendant's right to fair comment was violated by the publication.
3. Whether the qualified privilege inherent to the responsibility of disseminating material of public interest protected the defendants as well as their own subscribers and advertisers?
4. Whether the defendants were motivated by malice in publishing the alleged libel?
Judgment
The High Court of Calcutta maintained the trial court's verdict, finding no evidence to substantiate the plaintiff's accusations of insanity or undue influence. The court also noted that the plaintiff had delayed several years before contesting the deed, which weakened his case even further.
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