Disrespect to national anthem case: Court dismisses complaint against Mamata Banerjee
Mumbai (PTI): A court here on Monday dismissed the complaint against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly showing disrespect to the national anthem at an event here in 2021, citing that "no offence is made out".
Vivekanand Gupta, a functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai unit, had approached the magistrate court with a complaint, alleging that Banerjee did not stand when the national anthem was played at the event during her visit to Mumbai in December 2021.
Gupta had accused Banerjee of disrespecting the national anthem and demanded that an FIR be registered against her under the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act.
The complaint was dismissed by Metropolitan Magistrate (Mazgaon court) S B Kale. The detailed order was not available yet.
According to a lawyer, who attended the hearing on Monday, the court while dismissing the complaint said, "no offence was made out" against Banerjee.
Taking cognisance of Gupta's complaint, the magistrate court had in February 2022 issued a summons to the West Bengal chief minister.
The magistrate had at the time said that it was evident from the complaint, Gupta's verification statement, and video clips on YouTube that Banerjee had sung the national anthem and stopped abruptly and left the dais.
This prima facie proved that the accused had committed an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, it had stated.
The magistrate court had also ruled that no sanction was required to proceed against the chief minister, as she was not discharging official duty.
However, Banerjee moved a review petition before a special court against the magistrate's proceedings.
A special judge, after hearing both prosecution and defence, had in December last year set aside the summons against Banerjee and remanded the case back to the magistrate.
The judge had observed that the metropolitan magistrate "was not justified" in issuing a summons to Banerjee.
The proper course would be to remit the matter back to the metropolitan magistrate with direction to comply and adhere to the procedure mandated under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the special court had said.
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Mangaluru: Bajpe police arrests young man for alleged derogatory posts against police
Bajpe: Police have arrested a youth for allegedly posting derogatory and defamatory content against the Bajpe police on social media.
The arrested accused has been identified as Abhishek M. (23), a resident of Katipalla, Surathkal.
According to the police, Abhishek posted a photograph of Bajpe Nisarga Hotel on his Instagram account mr_a_titude_22, alleging that accused persons in a murder case under the jurisdiction of the Bajpe police station were being treated “like royalty” by the police and were being served beef meals from the hotel every day. In his post, he further accused the police of colluding with criminals and misusing their authority, stating that public trust in the police was being betrayed.
Following which, the Bajpe police registered a case and arrested the accused.
Police records reveal that Abhishek is already facing multiple criminal cases. A case of murder, attempt to murder, assault and robbery has been registered against him at the Surathkal police station. At the same time, a robbery case has also been registered at the Kaup police station.
After his arrest, Abhishek was handed over to the custody of the CEN police for further investigation. He was later produced before a court, police said.
