The Supreme Courtroom on Friday refused to entertain Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s plea looking for permission to affix police interrogation by way of video-conferencing in a case over her allegedly provocative Fb posts, telling her that having “taken the plunge into politics”, she couldn’t draw back from showing earlier than investigators merely as a result of she feared eggs being hurled at her.
“You’re a member of Parliament? Having taken the plunge into politics, you worry eggs? When our freedom fighters have taken bullets on their chest? These are functions that ought to not come earlier than this court docket in any respect,” a bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu remarked whereas declining to intrude with an order of the Calcutta Excessive Courtroom directing Moitra to seem earlier than the investigating officer in individual.
Confronted with the court docket’s disinclination to grant reduction, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, showing for Moitra, sought permission to withdraw the petition. The bench dismissed it as withdrawn.
What’s the case about?
The case arises out of an FIR registered in June at Hogalbaria police station in West Bengal’s Nadia district on a grievance by BJP chief Hirak Bhattacharya, accusing Moitra of creating provocative remarks able to hurting spiritual sentiments and disturbing communal concord. The FIR was registered below alleged offenses associated to selling social and non secular enmity, outraging spiritual beliefs, and making statements that trigger public mischief.
The grievance pertains to two movies uploaded by Moitra on Fb after a gaggle of BJP ladies staff allegedly gathered exterior the Krishnanagar District Periods Courtroom carrying eggs and tomatoes, claiming they might throw them on the MP if she appeared in reference to an earlier case.
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Within the first video, Moitra mentioned she would lodge a police grievance in opposition to the ladies seen exterior the court docket with eggs and, if the police refused to register her grievance, she would method the courts, together with the Supreme Courtroom.
In one other video posted the next day, she mentioned she would identify all the ladies in an FIR and allegedly remarked that as an alternative of throwing eggs overtly, they need to achieve this whereas “sporting a burqa” in order that nobody would recognise them. The movies went viral on social media, prompting the BJP chief to lodge the grievance alleging that her remarks have been meant to inflame communal tensions.
Final month, the Calcutta Excessive Courtroom granted Moitra interim safety from coercive motion on her plea looking for quashing of the FIR however directed her to cooperate with the investigation by showing earlier than the investigating officer on August 14.
What was Mahua Moitra’s request?
Earlier than the Supreme Courtroom, Sankaranarayanan submitted that whereas Moitra was prepared to cooperate with the investigation, she ought to be permitted to take action by way of video-conferencing as a result of she apprehended a hostile crowd exterior the police station.
When the bench requested why she couldn’t seem bodily, counsel mentioned the police station was situated in her personal constituency and that she feared one other mob confrontation.
“I’ve a authorized proper below regulation. The requirement as per the police discover is to be on the police station in my very own constituency. Final time I went there, two issues occurred. First there have been threats that eggs could be thrown, and the second time eggs have been really thrown,” Sankaranarayanan submitted.
The bench, nevertheless, refused to simply accept the competition, mentioning that the excessive court docket had already directed Moitra to cooperate with the investigation.
“Learn paragraph 18 of the impugned order. If you don’t seem, then face the music earlier than the Excessive Courtroom. If you’re aggrieved thereafter, then come,” the bench noticed.
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In paragraph 18 of its July 21 order, the excessive court docket had given liberty to the state to come back again to the court docket in case Moitra “doesn’t co-operate with the Investigating Company to take ahead the investigation and if she doesn’t obey the notices issued in reference to the aforesaid felony prosecution.”
To make sure, the impugned excessive court docket order had particularly requested the police authorities to make sure that Moitra “shall not be subjected to egg pelting or some other type of harassment.”
