Kerala court acquits Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan in defamation case filed by Sasikala Teacher

A Kerala court recently acquitted Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan in a defamation case filed by former Hindu Aikya Vedi State president KP Sasikala popularly known as Sasikala teacher [KP Sasikala v Rajmohan Unnithan]

Judicial Magistrate First Class-I court at Cherthala held that Sasikala failed to prove the charges against Unnithan under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Judge Sherin K George observed that oral testimony of the witnesses and legal notices sent to Unnithan alone could not establish the offence of defamation without any corroborative primary evidence such as broadcast evidence.

"Furthermore, the documentary evidence relied upon by PW1which is marked as Exhibits P1 to P3 consists solely of legal notices sent to the accused. These documents reflect the complainant's grievance and her assertion of reputational harm. However, they do not constitute primary evidence of the alleged defamatory statements. There is no certified video recording, transcript, or broadcast log produced to establish the actual content of the program or the context in which the statements were made. 16) In the absence of such material, the court is left with uncorroborated oral testimony and subjective claims of injury.In a prosecution for criminal defamation, especially under Section 500 IPC," the Court said.

The case stemmed from a televised debate program 'Counter Point' aired on Manorama news channel on October 2, 2017 in which Unnithan allegedly referred to Sasikala as a 'poisonous creature'.

She claimed that he had accused her of instigating violence that led to the death of a child in Kasargod.

She further claimed that the program's anchor and the media house endorsed and broadcast these remarks, causing her mental distress and damage to her reputation.

She initially filed a complaint against Unnithan, the anchor and the news channel but the court took cognizance only against Unnithan, who appeared in the matter and was released on bail.

During the trial, Sasikala, the complainant and four other witnesses were examined, including a journalist from Janmabhoomi newspaper, acquaintances familiar to complainant and the anchor from Manorama News who hosted the debate program “Counter Point”.

While the journalist from Janmabhoomi and acquaintances confirmed hearing the alleged remarks, the Court noted that these witnesses were close to or shared similar political views as that of Sasikala, which made their evidence less reliable.

More importantly, the Court noted that the anchor of the show had admitted that Unnithan had taken part in the debate but couldn't remember if any insulting remakes were actually made about Sasikala.

It observed that this ommission was critical as his evidence could have been used to prove or disprove the central allegation of defamatory remarks made on his show.

The Court also noted that the only documents produced by the complainant were legal notices issued to Unnithan, while no certified video recording or any broadcast log of the program was produced before it.

It clarified that in defamation cases, the burden is on the complainant to establish the offence of defamation, and broadcasting evidence which constitute a primary evidence, should have been summoned by the complainant from the news channel for proper corroboration of the oral evidence.

"In cases involving alleged defamation through mass media, the video recording or transcript of the broadcast constitutes primary evidence. In criminal defamation proceedings, especially under Section 500 IPC, the burden lies on the complainant to establish publication and content of the defamatory imputation," the Court added.

Thus, seeing that the prosecution had failed to establish the ingredients of Section 499 IPC, the Court acquitted Unnithan of all charges.

[Read Judgment]