Kochi: The Kerala High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against Mohiniyattam dancers RLV Ramakrishnan and Ullas U in a defamation case filed by veteran artiste Kalamandalam Sathyabhama.

The case stemmed from a private complaint filed before a magistrate in 2018, alleging that Ramakrishnan had secretly recorded a phone conversation with the complainant and later, along with Ullas, shared portions of it that allegedly defamed her.

However, Justice Kauser Edappagath, who heard the matter, noted that the complaint neither included the content of the alleged defamatory statements nor specified when they were published.

"It is only when the complainant produces the materials that support a prima facie case for defamation that the learned Magistrate can take cognizance of the offence," the court observed. "No useful purpose will be served by allowing the criminal prosecution against the petitioners to continue."

The court, therefore, allowed the petition and quashed all further proceedings pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Thiruvananthapuram.
(With LiveLaw inputs.)