Bombay HC to hear plea by Jamat-e-Islami Hind

The Bombay high court on Monday admitted for hearing the defamation suit filed by Jamat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) against the state police and both state and the Union governments seeking Rs 10 crore as damages for a leaked internal circular to media, which, according to the petitioner, has damaged its reputation.

The division bench of Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari and Justice G.S. Kulkarni also granted liberty to the petitioner to seek expeditious hearing of this matter.

The respondents had opposed the suit and requested the court to dismiss the petition. The bench, however, observed that the allegations made in the petition are serious in nature and the court feels that the matter should be heard.

In the meantime additional commissioner of police, special branch Ravindra Shisve in his reply to the JIH on March 16 had said that some secret information was published in a confidential fortnightly report along with other information and that was circulated to 37 various police authorities. “The said confidential fortnightly report was an internal circulation for the police department and was not meant to be published in the newspaper or for general public at large,” read the affidavit filed by Mr Shisve.

The affidavit further stated that the report was not circulated to hurt or defame the organisation. It further stated, “It is rather unfortunate that the news reporters got an unauthorised access to the confidential fortnightly report and published it in most exaggerated and distorted version in the newspaper.”

“Despite due efforts it has not been possible to identify the culprit to fix the responsibility and accountability of the said leakage of confidential report and hence no action on the errant person could be taken,” said the affidavit adding that the respondents were shocked to read a distorted version of the report published in various newspapers. The affidavit also requested the court to reject the prayers made by petitioner of conducting an inquiry to ascertain who was responsible for leaking the circular and also seeking compensation.

The JIH in 2013 had filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit after the media reported that a police’s internal circular has asked its officers to keep a special watch on JIH’s sister organisation, the Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO) since it was allegedly radicalising Muslim youths. Promptly the organisation protested and the police had clarified that it found nothing adverse against it and that the circular was meant for internal circulation.