Editor-in-Chief of Newslaundry, who downplayed the rape of minor girl in Nainital, was earlier convicted of criminal defamation: Read the case in detail
The Editor-in-Chief of Newslaundry, Raman Kirpal, had recently stirred the hornet’s nest by downplaying the rape of a minor Hindu girl in Nainital by a 65-year-old Muhammad Usman as an ‘affair’ and ‘small incident.’
He made the comments during the course of a podcast on the propaganda outlet, which was taken down after being called out on social media.
When the public outcry became intense, both Kirpal and Newslaundry were forced to tender an apology.
Kirpal is not new to controversies. The current Editor-in-Chief of Newslaundry had previously been convicted of criminal defamation in 2007.
As a reporter of the Pioneer in 1994, he published a fake interview of the district magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, Anant Kumar Singh.
Kirpal had falsely claimed that the district magistrate made a statement favouring rape of women in the village. Singh dragged the accused to the court, where he was declared guilty, fined and sentenced to jail.
But he got away with just a fine and apology in 2022 since he was a ‘first-time offender’ and 28 years had passed since the incident (when Kirpal published the fake interview of Anant Kumar Singh).
Raman Kirpal and the background of the case
It was October 1994. Raman Kirpal was a reporter with the Pioneer. He ran a fake story with the headline ‘Any man will rape a woman in a lonely spot: DM, Muzaffarnagar.’
This concocted story was published both in the Pioneer and the Hindi daily Swatantra Bharat. The then magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, Anant Kumar Singh, had not given any such interview or made any statement to Raman Kirpal.
Despite this, Kirpal attributed the following statement to Singh – “You see, it is human tendency when a woman is seen at a lonely place in a jungle, any man will be inclined to rape her.“
Singh had denied giving any such interview from Day 1. This did not stop the Pioneer and Swantantra Bharat from publishing the fake interview.
The magistrate of Muzaffarnagar issued a contradiction, which was not covered by the editors of either of the newspapers. He then notified the Press Council of India (PCI), which reprimanded the journalists and the papers.
The criminal defamation case and its aftermath
Forced by circumstance, Anant Kumar Singh filed a criminal defamation case in 1997. Ten years later, in 2007, Raman Kirpal was convicted of publishing a ‘concocted, false and defamatory’ interview.
He was fined ₹5000 and sentenced to 1 year of rigorous imprisonment by a special court.
Suresh Chandra, the special chief judicial magistrate, observed that Anant Kumar Singh had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the interview published by Raman Kirpal and others was defamatory and concocted.
“The accused people have failed to prove that the reporter had actually taken the interview,” the judge noted. Kirpal had vowed to file an appeal in the Allahabad High Court.
In 2012, an additional district judge in Lucknow issued non-bailable warrants against Raman Kirpal and cancelled his bail application. His appeal was also dismissed, and the conviction was upheld.
Judge P.N. Srivastav noted that Anant Kumar Singh “has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the interview written and published by the appellants have lowered his reputation in the eyes of the common man while the appellants have failed to produce any evidence which may even suggest that the reporter has taken the interview.”
When the accused claimed to be innocent
However, Raman Kirpal was successful in getting a stay on the warrants from the Allahabad High Court. He had claimed to The Hindu newspaper that the ‘interview’ indeed took place.
“I also had a photographer with me who took pictures during the interview, providing additional proof that the interview took place. Unfortunately, I had left The Pioneer by then, and the newspaper also changed hands, my taxi bills proving my trip to Muzaffarnagar have been lost,” he alleged.
Apology of Raman Kirpal and the verdict of the Allahabad High Court
The matter came to an end in August 2022 when the Allahabad High Court, in its judgment, accepted the ‘apology’ of Raman Kirpal and let him go with a fine. The court observed that 28 years had passed since the incident.
The current Editor-in-Chief of Newslaundry, who had claimed to be innocent in 2012, said this in his apology-
“Realizing my mistake, I offer my unconditional apology to the Respondent No. 2/Original Complainant for publishing such defamatory and derogatory news about him and sincerely express my regrets for the irreparable loss, pain and agony caused to him, his family and friends. I am deposing the same voluntarily without being influenced by coercion or inducement. I also submit that any such false attributions made were entirely unintentional, non-wilful and inadvertent.”
The court noted,
“Thus, this Court thinks that the apology tendered by the revisionist is genuine and bonafide. The incident took place 28 years back. The two courts have concurrently held the revisionist guilty for offence under sections 500 I.P.C. The two courts have convicted and sentenced the revisionist as mentioned above.“
“It is not disputed that the accused-revisionist is the first time offender and was not previously convicted in any other case. Learned counsel for the revisionist submits that in view of the express provisions of Section 361 Cr.P.C., considering the facts and circumstances, nature of the offence, the character of the accused-revisionist and particularly, the time period which has lapsed since the date of incident, the benefit of Section 4 of the Act may be granted in this case.“
The Allahabad High Court also upheld his conviction but released him on probation. The court directed Raman Kirpal to pay a personal bond of ₹50000. He was further told to keep ‘peace in society’ and refrain from committing further offence.
Kirpal was additionally directed to pay ₹1 lakh to Anant Kumar Singh, whom he defamed through his fake interview.
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