National Anthem Dispute: Calcutta HC Temporarily Stays Police Notice Against BJP MLAs

The Calcutta High Court has issued an order to temporarily stayed the police notices served on eight BJP MLAs in response to FIRs filed against 11 party legislators.

These FIRs accused the BJP members of disrespecting the national anthem during a session at the Bengal assembly.

Justice Jay Sengupta instructed the police not to take any action against the accused until December 7, and scheduled the next hearing for December 6.

Additionally, the court directed the police to submit the case diary on the upcoming hearing day, as it was not presented on December 4.

The petitioner in this case is Manoj Tigga, the BJP’s MLA from Madarihat and the party’s chief whip in the assembly.

The FIRs were initiated by the police after speaker Biman Banerjee forwarded two complaints from Trinamool MLAs Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Tapas Roy.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs alleged that the BJP MLAs began shouting slogans while the Bengal Chief Minister, who was present at a Trinamool dharna on the assembly premises, was singing the national anthem.

Justice Jay Sengupta pointed out to state counsel Kishore Datta, “Trinamool MLAs were sitting on a dharna. Later, BJP MLAs started shouting slogans. Trinamool MLAs, in the meantime, sang the national anthem. It appears that BJP didn’t start shouting slogans after TMC members began singing the national anthem. They were giving slogans even before. What will a person do if someone starts singing the national anthem all of a sudden?”

Justice Jay Sengupta sought justification from state counsel Kishore Datta regarding the rationale for singing the national anthem at a dharna, stating, “A dharna is not a ceremony. The national anthem can’t be sung on the pretext that the CM was present there,” as observed by the judge.