The Gujarat High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a man accused of circulating a defamatory newspaper clipping on WhatsApp, holding that merely forwarding a news cutting, without any material showing forgery or intent to defame, does not make out the offences alleged in the FIR.
Delivering the judgment, Justice P. M. Raval found that the investigation failed to establish the essential ingredients of offences under the Indian Penal Code and ruled that allowing the prosecution to continue would amount to an abuse of the legal process.
Background of the Case
The petition was filed by Kaushalbhai Jagdishbhai Asodiya, seeking quashing of an FIR registered at Shaherkotda Police Station, Ahmedabad City. The complaint alleged that fake newspaper content had been circulated through WhatsApp and social media with the intention of defaming the complainant and his political party.
According to the complaint, a newspaper cutting was forwarded through WhatsApp, allegedly damaging the complainant's reputation. The petitioner, however, argued that his role was limited to forwarding the image to another person and that he neither created nor published the alleged news item.
Court's Observations
After examining the FIR and the charge sheet, the High Court noted that there was no material indicating that the petitioner had forged the newspaper clipping or acted with the intention of harming the complainant's reputation.
The Court observed,
“Even if the allegations are taken at their face value, they do not constitute an offence under Section 469 of the IPC.”
It further found that neither the FIR nor the investigation contained evidence linking the petitioner to the creation of the allegedly false publication.
Justice P. M. Raval also noted that the petitioner's role was confined to forwarding the newspaper cutting to another individual. The Court pointed out that the publisher or editor of the newspaper had not been made accused, despite the allegation that the publication itself contained the defamatory content.
On the allegations of defamation under Sections 500 and 501 IPC, the Court observed that these offences are non-cognizable and ordinarily require a private complaint before the competent Magistrate. It held that, on the facts of the case, the FIR itself was not maintainable for those offences.
The High Court referred to the Supreme Court's decision in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, reiterating that criminal proceedings may be quashed where the allegations do not disclose any offence or where continuation of the prosecution would amount to misuse of the legal process.
“The Court must be careful while exercising its power,” the judgment noted, while emphasizing that inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC should be exercised cautiously and only in appropriate cases.
Decision
Concluding that the allegations against the petitioner did not satisfy the ingredients of offences under Sections 469, 500, 501, 120B or 114 of the IPC, the Gujarat High Court allowed the petition.
The Court quashed the FIR and all consequential proceedings only in relation to the present petitioner, while making the rule absolute to that extent.
Case Details
Case Title: Kaushalbhai Jagdishbhai Asodiya v. State of Gujarat & Anr.
Case Number: R/Criminal Misc. Application (For Quashing & Set Aside FIR/Order) No. 850 of 2022
Judge: Hon'ble Mr. Justice P. M. Raval
Decision Date: 22 July 2026
