Shri Haji Usmangani Razvi, President, Amin-e-Shariat Education Trust, Dhrol, Jamnagar, Gujarat filed these complaints dated 4.10.2002 against The Week, (Kochi),

Lok Vaat, (Jamnagar), Jay Hind, (Rajkot), Gujarat Samachar, (Rajkot), Aaj Kal, (Jamnagar) and Sanj Samachar, (Rajkot) for falsely linking the Institute with Dawood Ibrahim, a mafia and Samir Khan, a terrorist in the following defamatory news items:

The complainant submitted that the Amin -e- Shariat Education Trust, working in the social and educational field, had been running in Jamnagar district of Gujarat for the last twelve years. There were 450 boys and 200 girls of minority community getting education in the Institute. Most of the students were either orphan or poor, thus no fees for boarding/lodging, medicine or clothes was being charged. The institute runs only on public donation.

It was alleged in the impugned news items published in The Week that the main trustee Usmangani Razvi, (complainant) had relations with national enemy Gafar Dawood Ibrahim. Denying the allegation the complainant stated that the impugned news item was far from truth and defamatory. By publishing such news the respondent had tried to stop their public donation.

The complainant further stated that the same news item was published by Gujarat Samachar, Jai Hind and Sanj Samachar and all these news items were totally false. Further, by publishing these news items the respondents had not only defamed the Institute but also hurt their feelings.

The complainant alleged that the owners of the newspapers had started a movement against his Institute, which was doing good and positive work of training unemployed Muslims for jobs. The complainant alleged that the newspapers couldn’t see the progress of this Institute, so by taking communal attitude they blackmailed the Institute and propagated against it.

Lok Vaat reported in the impugned news item that the criminal Samir Khan had stayed in this Institute. The complainant submitted that by publishing the impugned news item the respondent had tried to label this Institute as the centre of the activities of national enemies, which was totally false, baseless and intentional.

The complainant further stated that in his institute out of total 18 teachers, 12 were Hindus. They stayed there day and night, yet the respondents had been making such accusations and tried to harass them.

It was stated in the impugned news item published in Aaj Kal that the Institute had links with terrorist Samir Khan and was connected with most notorious and ungrateful Dawood Ibrahim.

The complainant emphatically denied that the Institute had any nexus with mafia/terrorists as alleged in the impugned reports. The respondent newspapers did not publish the rebuttal.

Show-cause notices were issued to all the respondent newspapers on 10.2.2003.

The Editor, Aaj Kal in his written statement dated 4.3.2003 denied the allegation of defaming the Institute by publishing the news spreading communal poison. According to the respondent the name of the complainant had not been mentioned anywhere in the said news. Before publishing the impugned news, the news reporter had enquired from the police and it was published after due enquiry without any intention to harm anybody.

The complainant vide his letter dated 10.3.2003 addressed to the editor, Aaj Kal, Rajkot and a copy endorsed to Press Council of India reiterated his complaint and submitted that though the respondent editor, Aaj Kal had clarified that the name of the complainant and his Institute had not been mentioned any where but only a reference had been made to religious and social institute in Dhrol.

The complainant claimed that the name of Dhrol city had not been mentioned anywhere in the FIR and charge sheet against Samir Khan. The complainant alleged that the respondent might have acquired wrong information due to communal beliefs. He

further stated that even a police officer had visited the Institute, who mentioned in the visitors’ book that no person of doubtful character was found in the Institute.

Editor, The Week, vide his letter dated 7.3.2003 requested for extension of time for two months for filing their written statement in reply.

Shri Mammen Mathew, Chief Editor, The Week filed his written statement dated September 4, 2003 submitting that the complainant had approached the Council without following the procedural formalities. At no point of time, prior to the filing of the complaint, the complainant had approached The Week requesting to publish a denial or rejoinder.

It was submitted on merits that the complaint is filed by Haji Usmangani Razvi claiming to be the President of Amin-e-Shariat Education Trust, Jamnagar, Gujarat. Nowhere in the article in dispute has the complainant’s name been stated. What has been stated in the article was that “Dawood set up the sena after a secret visit to Gujarat three years ago with the help of Usmaan Gani Bapu, President of Hamam Wasan Madrassa at Dhrol”. Thus, the reference was made to Usmaan Gani Bapu and the same was not in any way connected to the complainant either personally i.e. Haji Usmangani Razvi nor the Trust of which he is the President namely, Amin-e-Shariat Education Trust. Therefore, the allegation that the publication in dispute was defamatory to the complainant was without any justification and stoutly denied by the respondent. Therefore, in the absence of any specific reference being made to the complainant in the article, he was not at all justified in preferring this complaint. The article in dispute published in The Week under the caption: “Plotting Revenge” was written by Mr. Kartikeya Sharma, the then correspondent of The Week on the basis of reliable information collected pursuant to a responsible enquiry. The article was published in good faith and in public interest and The Week had no personal ill will or malice towards the complainant. The article was published after the correspondent concerned had conducted a detailed enquiry and personal interviews with a number of officers of the Special Service Bureau (SSB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs who had been monitoring the creation and growth of Adil Sena of the district bordering Pakistan. All the details incorporated in the article were provided by senior intelligence officers who were at that time investigating anti-national activities in the Pakistan border and also the links with the underworld mafia operating from Pakistan.

Other respondents did not file their written statements.

The matters were taken up for hearing by the Inquiry Committee at Pune on 23.9.2003. The complainant, Haji Usmangani Razvi appeared in person while S/Shri Santosh Mathew, advocate, Tanish U. Bhatt, advocate and Bharat Lakhtariya represented The Week, Gujarat Samachar and Jay Hind respectively. There was no appearance on behalf of Sanj Samachar, Aaj Kal and Lok Vaat. The complainant had informed the Council by his letter dated 20.9.2003 that as Aaj Kal had published the apology, he had no further complaint against the newspaper.

The complainant in his oral submissions stated that their institution was working for last 12 years and was imparting education to minority community boys and girls free of charge. The institution was being funded by the Central Government, the State Government of Gujarat and general public and also from foreign countries. Every year during the month of Ramjan the institution was receiving huge donations from Muslims. But after the publications of false and baseless news reports the donations from Muslims had been reduced from 20 lakhs to only two lakhs. He pleaded that the news reports had tarnished the reputation of the institution. The reputation was earned by doing social work over the years, which the newspaper damaged in a day by publishing the defamatory and concocted reports. No newspaper published the clarification issued by the institute. He asserted that he was Haji Usmangani Razvi alias Usmangani Bapu actively managing the Amin-e-Shariat Trust as well as the Madarsa.

Learned counsel appearing for The Week argued that nowhere in the impugned news report the name of the complainant and Trust had been mentioned. The article in dispute was written by Shri Kartikeya Sharma after contacting various persons including police officers. Learned counsel added that the report was published in good faith and in public interest. Learned counsel for Gujarat Samachar argued that the news report did not contain the name of any person.

The Committee considered the record and oral arguments of the parties. It noted that the complainant claimed that Amin-e-Shariat Education Trust was engaged in imparting education to the poor students of minority community for about last 12 years. The Committee felt that the impugned reports charged the complainant Trust/Madarsa with having relations with the terrorists and that of giving shelter to the criminals in the institution. The reports had the tendency to damage the reputation of the institution, which was doing social work. To set the record straight, the Committee opined that the

respondents should afford the complainant with his right to reply by presenting his side of the case before the readers. The Committee, therefore, directed the complainant to send his to the point rebuttal and the respondents to publish the same with prominence within a fortnight of its receipt. It further directed the respondent newspapers to send a copy of the issue carrying the rebuttal of the complainant to the Council as well as the complainant for record. It recommends to the Council accordingly.

The Press Council, on consideration of the records of the case and the report of the Inquiry Committee, accepts the reasons, findings and the recommendations of the Committee and decides accordingly.