TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In a defamation case filed against a Maharashtra-based Marathi weekly by the Hindu right wing organization Sanathan Saunstha in Goa, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Panjim has exempted the former from appearing in person during the trial.
The Saunstha had filed a defamation plea against the owner, editor and publisher of magazine Chitralekha for releasing allegedly defamatory cover page articles against the organization and its founder Dr Jayant Athavale. The president of All India Andha Shraddha Nirmulan Samiti Shyam Manav is one of the respondents in the case.
When the matter came up for hearing on Friday, the respondents submitted to the judicial magistrate that this was an attempt of harassment despite the articles nowhere mentioning about the Saunstha being based in Goa.
“The articles do not mention about the Saunstha’s Goa base. The case has been filed to harass us by forcing us to travel to Goa for every trial,” one of the respondents said.
The JMFC then exempted the respondents from making their appearance in the court and adjourned the matter for September 29.
