Bihar Police closes controversial sedition case against celebrities after allegations found 'false'
Patna/Muzaffarpur, Oct 09: The Bihar police has ordered closure of a sedition case lodged against nearly 50 celebrities, including filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam and Anurag Kashyap, and the complainant would be prosecuted for levelling "false" allegations, a top police official said.
The development comes after a number of opposition leaders and prominent personalities condemned the filing of the FIR last week on the complainant by a Muzaffarpur-based advocate against the celebrities who had signed an open letter seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in "rising incidents" of mob lynching across the country.
The Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters), Jitendra Kumar, said on Wednesday the case was lodged at Muzaffarpur in the wake of the Chief Judicial Magistrate's order under Section 156(3) of the CrPC.
Under the provision, the police had "no option but to register a case under sections which the reading of the complaint discloses", he said.
The ADG said the matter was supervised by SSP Muzaffarpur. "The complainant could not produce supporting documents or evidence, not even the alleged letter written by the 49 persons, which may support his claim of commission of any offence," he said.
"On this and other circumstantial basis, the case is found to be false and order has been issued by him to investigating officer to submit Final Report- False. Along with this, finding this to be an intentional purpose of complainant, prosecution under sections 182 and 211 (of the IPC) will be submitted against complainant for lodging a false case," the ADG added.
Those named as accused by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha, who had filed the petition on July 23, also included historian Ramachandra Guha, actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Aparna Sena and Revathi and light classical singer Shubha Mudgal.
Bollywood personalities Kangana Ranaut, Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri who were critical of the open letter were named as "witnesses".
The FIR was lodged at the Sadar police station upon receipt of an order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Surya Kant Tiwari in August.
The filing of the FIR evoked criticisms from top opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi even as close to 200 celebrities this time including historian Romila Thapar and actor Naseeruddin Shah among others came out with another open letter asking how an appeal to the Prime Minister could be construed as seditious.
Last week, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's intervention was sought by his former associate and RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary who pointed out that Guha, named as an accused, was among those intellectuals who have lavished praise on the JD(U) chief.
An embarrassed Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also a senior BJP leader, came out with a statement earlier in the day clarifying that his party or the Sangh Parivar did not have anything to do with the sedition case.
The Deputy CM also dubbed Ojha, whom he did not mention by name, a "serial litigant" by whom he was also named as accused in a case a few years ago.
Sushil Modi, however, also attacked the "award wapsi and tukde-tukde gangs" for trying to take advantage of the episode to allege that the Modi government at the Centre was throttling freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Ojha remained unfazed when he was approached by journalists after the Police Headquarters came out with its statement.
"Any number of petitions have been filed on the basis of my complaints and these have been pending for as long as 10 years. I wonder how the police came to a conclusion in this matter in just a few days. I will file a petition against the police," the maverick lawyer declared.
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Paper leak mafia thriving under BJP's double-engine governments: Bhagwant Mann
Shimla (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday slammed the Centre over the alleged NEET paper leak and said that such incidents are surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments.
He said the leak and cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) 2026 examination is a major failure on the part of the Union government.
"This is not the first time that a paper leak has happened. Such incidents have surfaced in 2017, 2021, 2024, and now even in 2026 and every time, a CBI inquiry is initiated, arrests are made, yet after a short while, the accused are released on bail," he said.
Mann, who arrived at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium to boost the morale of the Punjab Kings team ahead of their upcoming IPL match, told the media that lakhs of students toil day and night, harbouring dreams of transforming their families' fortunes, but when exams are cancelled due to paper leaks, these students are left heartbroken.
The NEET 2026 paper held on May 3 was cancelled on May 12 after reports of a paper leak in Rajasthan.
He said that the paper leak mafia is predominantly surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments. "Paper leaked, dreams shattered, the country's administrative system is unable to conduct even a single examination properly", he added.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mann said that while Modi imposes various restrictions on the public, he himself continues to embark on foreign tours.
He asserted that the public deserves to know the country's true economic situation.
"The prime minister must disclose the current status of the country's oil reserves, the extent of our gold reserves, and fundamentally why restrictions are being imposed on every single commodity", he said.
No other nation has imposed such restrictions and the ongoing war is being used as a pretext, even though the country's economy is already in a precarious state, Mann added.
Regarding the ongoing campaign against drugs in Punjab, Mann said that the state government is continuously taking action against drug traffickers and asserted that a large number of traffickers are being sent to jail and that Punjab will soon move towards becoming drug-free.
Speaking about the upcoming IPL match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians to be held in Dharamshala, Mann said that he also holds the portfolio of Punjab's sports minister and has arrived in Dharamshala to cheer the team.
