In Brief
A police officer (Hemant Madhukar Nimbalkar) lodged a complaint alleging that Sakal Newspaper published defamatory articles about him, including claims of ill-gotten wealth from smuggling. The complaint named six accused: four editors of different newspaper editions, Abhijit Pawar (Managing Director), and Prataprao Govind Pawar (Chairman). The trial court issued process against all. Pawar (Managing Director) and the Chairman challenged this before the High Court; the Chairman's case was allowed, but the Managing Director's was dismissed. The Supreme Court held that where accused reside outside a Magistrate's jurisdiction, Section 202 CrPC mandates enquiry before issuing process to prevent harassment. The trial court failed to conduct such enquiry. The matter was remitted for fresh enquiry, and the complainant was given opportunity to prove the Chairman's actual involvement in the publication."
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