<h1>Televised interview remarks trigger criminal defamation case; court issues process, rejects free speech defence, grants bail to accused</h1> A criminal defamation complaint was taken cognisance of after the court found sufficient grounds to proceed and ordered issuance of process against the accused, treating imputation and publication as prima facie established on the admitted giving of a televised interview, while holding the requisite mental element to cause harm to be a matter for trial; the operative consequence is that the accused must appear and face further proceedings on the defamation allegation. The court rejected defences that responsibility lay with the media to verify the statements and that the remarks were protected by free speech, and it granted bail as the offence is bailable on furnishing the specified bond and surety, with the case listed for further hearing on the framing of notice of accusation.