Punjab and Haryana High Court. (File)
THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court on Monday issued a notice to the retired IPS officer, Param Vir Rathee, on a petition filed by senior Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala for quashing the defamation case filed against him by Rathee in 2008.
Rathee in 2008 had filed a complaint against Chautala and 33 others, including various editors and reporters of newspapers, regarding publication of a news item in which it was alleged that Rathee had taken bribe from a person who was seeking police protection. Chautala had issued a statement after the news reports and sought Rathee’s suspension and registration of case against him.
Rathee had lodged a complaint in Gurgaon against the newspaper editors and reporters and INLD leaders, including Chautala, for “defamatory and factually incorrect” statements and reports. He had asked the lower court to summon, try and punish the accused under IPC sections 499, 500 and 501. The accused had been summoned by the court in 2010.
Chautala in his plea said that his residence falls outside the jurisdiction of the Gurgaon court and the magistrate who issued the summons went beyond his jurisdiction by not holding the inquiry first in accordance with the provisions of law.