The Supreme Court recently dismissed the criminal defamation proceedings against the former Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Firoz Bakht Ahmed, who was accused of calling a professor a sexual predator [Firoz Bakht Ahmed v. State of Telangana and ors].
Ahmed had approached the Supreme Court to quash the case initiated by Professor Ehtesham Ahmad Khan. The Bench, consisting of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra, granted Ahmed’s plea after he agreed to issue an unconditional apology to Khan.
Additionally, the Court directed Ahmed to pay a token amount of ₹1 lakh as compensation for the mental anguish caused to Khan due to the “wild allegations.” Ahmed was also required to publish an unconditional apology in bold letters on the front page of the Eenadu newspaper within a month.
The Court stated, “Since the appellant (Ahmed) has now realized his mistake and is willing to tender an unconditional apology, we find that it will be in the interest of both parties to put an end to the criminal proceedings as well as other proceedings pending between them… The respondent No.2 (Khan) would be entitled to the return of court fees paid in the suit filed by him.”
The Telangana High Court had previously refused to quash the proceedings in April last year, prompting Ahmed to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Khan had initiated the defamation case, alleging deliberate slander and harm to his reputation. The High Court had noted that Ahmed referred to Khan as a sexual predator even after he was discharged from the allegations.
Ahmed’s counsel argued that the statements resulted from an emotional outburst without any malicious intent. They also noted Ahmed’s willingness to offer an unconditional apology and pay notional damages.
Considering these points, the Supreme Court decided to quash the proceedings.
Senior Advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, along with advocates Karan Mamgain, Siddharth Kumar, Praveen Gaur, Dhruv Singh, Yogesh Sham Sonawane, and Anil Kumar, represented Ahmed. Advocates Balaji Srinivasan and Shreyas Ranjan appeared for the complainant-professor, while Advocates Devina Sehgal and Yatharth Kansal appeared for the State of Telangana.
