The Kerala High Court in the case Akhila Nandakumar v. State of Kerala & Ors observed and has closed the plea moved by the Chief Reporter of Asianet News Channel Akhila Nandakumar for quashing the FIR registered against her for allegedly conspiring to defame the CPI(M)’s student wing leader PM Arsho in connection with the controversy of Maharaja’s College examination. The bench of Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan in the case observed while taking note of the submission made by the Public Prosecutor that Nandakumar had already been removed from the array of the accused in a crime.
In the present case, PM Arsho, who being the postgraduate Archaeology student at Maharajas College and the State General Secretary of the Students Federation of India, alleged before the court that even though he did not appear for the third-semester exam, the college authorities have wrongly passed him.
Further, it has been stated by him that the journalist spread the said news to defame him as it is allegedly acting in conspiracy with the college principal and department coordinator.
The case was being registered against the Nandakumar and four others under Sections 120B i.e., the Punishment for criminal conspiracy, section 465, the Punishment for Forgery, section 469, the Forgery for purpose of harming reputation, section 500, the Punishment for Defamation of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It has also been averred by the Nandakumar before the court that she had visited the college to report about the alleged forgery of an experience certificate by a former SFI activist in order to secure a teaching job, and that it was during the said interview that one Fazil, who being the Kerala Students Union, KSU made an allegation that Arsho was passed in the exam even when he did not appear for it.
The Nadakumar in the plea moved claimed that she had not said anything against Arsho during the live telecast, save for a remark that a political allegation is made against him. It has also been submitted by her before the court that other print and visual media had also reported about the incident and even attributed Arsho as being a beneficiary of the exam fraud.
However, Arsho in the case chose to implicate her alone.
Further, it has been claimed by the college principal that the discrepancy in the result was due to an error which being on the part of the National Informatics Centre, NIC. Thus, it has been submitted by Nandakumar that she has no control over the controversy and that the Additional Director General of Police showed undue haste in issuing an order directing the registration of FIR against her.
It has also been alleged to Nandaukumar that she had been falsely implicated in the case in order to harass her due to previous vengeance towards the Asianet News channel. Adding to it, she stated that several criminal cases had been foisted against various news reporters of the Asianet news channel within a short span of one year.
The counsel, Advocate Asaf Ali T., V.V. Nandagopal Nambiar, and Advocate Laliza T.Y. appeared for the petitioner.