Decriminalisation and delay defeat cable TV prosecution

The Karnataka High Court, per Justice M. Nagaprasanna, quashed the entire proceedings in C.C.No.13702/2025 pending before the XVII Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bengaluru, in a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C.

The petitioners were TV9 Karnataka Private Limited and two of its correspondents. The prosecution arose from an incident traced to 02.03.2012 at the City Civil Court complex, Bengaluru, during the events surrounding the production of former Minister Gali Janardhana Reddy. The judgment records that the matter had already seen extensive litigation, including earlier quashing of similar proceedings with liberty reserved in limited circumstances.

The present complaint was authorised by the State Government on 22.11.2023, and cognizance was taken on 03.05.2025 for offences under Sections 5 read with 16 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The petitioners challenged the proceedings on the ground that Section 16 had been decriminalised by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, and that the complaint was a verbatim repetition of allegations that had already been quashed.

The Court accepted the challenge. It noted that the amendment had converted the offence into a civil wrong and that the prosecution could not be sustained on the basis of the same allegations after the statutory change. The Court also placed weight on the inordinate and unexplained delay of more than 10 years in registering the complaint. That delay, coupled with the absence of fresh material, led the Court to conclude that continuation of the proceedings would amount to misuse and abuse of the process of law.

The Court observed that compelling the petitioners to face trial in these circumstances would not advance justice and would instead subvert it. It therefore held that the proceedings, if allowed to continue, would be a manifest abuse of process and would inevitably result in miscarriage of justice.

The criminal petition was allowed and the entire proceedings in C.C.No.13702/2025 were quashed.

Practical takeaway: Where the underlying provision has been decriminalised and the complaint is stale without fresh material, Section 482 relief may follow.