Case against Mamata for 'promoting enmity'

Former West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has been booked for allegedly making communal remarks at a public rally ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, a senior officer aware of the matter said on Friday.

- HT Correspondent

According to police, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Hare Street Police Station on the basis of a complaint filed by one Tushar Kanti Das.

“A zero FIR was first registered by the Regent Park police station on June 7 as the complaint was lodged there. It was then transferred to the Hare Street police station as Banerjee gave her speech at a rally in Esplanade in March,” said an officer aware of the matter.

The complainant has alleged that Banerjee’s remarks, made on March 9 while she was staging a demonstration against the Special Intensive Revision in poll-bound West Bengal, had the potential to disturb peace and adversely affect communal harmony and democratic norms. The Election Commission of India had announced the dates of the assembly elections on March 15.

Based on the complaint, the TMC chief has been booked under sections 196(1) (promoting enmity between different groups), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult aimed at provoking a breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.