A platform formed to protest alleged actions of the state that infringe on civil liberties and human rights said in a statement the discharge of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra in a case lodged after he forwarded an Internet joke on chief minister Mamata Banerjee marked a victory for those “fighting against killing of democracy”.
The forum, Akrantha Amra, said they were upset because the criminal forces and police administration who broke the law in this case are yet to be convicted.
Mahapatra was discharged in the 11-year-old case by the Alipore Judges Court on January 19.
The statement says: “It is clear; gatherings of miscreants, beatings, death threats... arrests... criminal cases, court chakkar, harassment, fines and blocking of passport renewal by the police are all planned. However, with the help of the judicial system, Ambikesh Mahapatra was acquitted of the criminal case related to the administration’s attack on constitutional rights. The victory is a victory for those who are fighting in the streets against killing of democracy and taking away the right to free expression.”
Mahapatra, who had allegedly been beaten up by local Trinamul Congress supporters in East Jadavpur, and arrested in April 2012, apart from being slapped with Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, was also charged with three other Sections — 500, 509 and 114 of the Indian penal code.
When the police submitted the chargesheet in July 2012, they dropped the three IPC sections.
In 2015, as the Supreme Court issued an order scrapping all cases under 66A of the IT Act, the complainant in Mahapatra’s case moved an appeal to re-add Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC and the police did not object.
“The case went on for eight more years as the Alipore criminal court surprisingly took cognizance of the prayer. I filed a review petition at the Alipore Judges Court. After the Supreme Court in mid-November 2022 directed that no citizen could be prosecuted under Section 66A of the IT Act and struck down all pending cases under the section, I was discharged from the case,” Mahapatra told The Telegraph.
“But I am upset that the miscreants who assaulted me and the police administration, which failed to give me justice and multiplied my agony, could not be brought to book,” he said.
The statement of the platform reflects this resentment.
“Those who broke the law and committed a criminal offence; criminal forces and police administration, have they been convicted and sentenced? No. Calcutta High Court on March 10, 2015, ordered the implementation of an additional penalty of Rs 50,000 on the state administration for the cost of the case along with recommendations of the state human rights commission that included disciplinary action against police... Appeals by the state government to the division bench against the order was cancelled on March 12, 2020...The state government has not implemented the order of the high court,” the statement says.
