The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee seeking the dismissal of a criminal complaint against her by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader alleging she disrespected the National Anthem in a public event.
A single bench of Justice Amit Borkar was hearing the matter.
Mamata Banerjee requested that the summons issued to her by a metropolitan magistrate at Sewree in Mumbai be quashed, following the complaint filed against her by BJP Mumbai Secretary Vivekanand Gupta.
The West Bengal CM also challenged an order issued by Special Sessions Judge RN Rokade, who overturned the magistrate’s summons on procedural grounds and asked the magistrate to reconsider the complaint.
According to the complaint filed against Banerjee, during a public function at the Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium on Cuffe Parade in Mumbai, Banerjee began singing the National Anthem while sitting and later stood up and sang two verses of the Anthem before abruptly stopping and leaving the venue.
The plea alleged that Banerjee’s actions constituted an insult and disrespect to the National Anthem, which was a punishable offense under the 1971 Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.
BJP Secretary Gupta filed a complaint with the magistrate, who ordered Banerjee to appear in court on March 2, 2022.
The West Bengal CM then filed an appeal with the sessions court, which dismissed the summons and remanded the case to the magistrate for further consideration.
Mamata Banerjee approached the High Court challenging the same.
She argued that the case should not have been remanded to the Magistrate for reconsideration, but rather quashed by the Sessions Court itself.
