Calcutta High Court Redirects Mahua Moitra’s Hate Speech Case to Special MP/MLA Court
On September 7, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of a hate speech case against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from a regular magistrate court to a specialized MP/MLA court. This decision was made in the case of Mahua Moitra vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors., following a ruling by a Division Bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Aryak Dutt.
The Bench determined that the magistrate court did not hold the proper jurisdiction to adjudicate cases involving lawmakers. “In the present case, a complaint has been lodged against the petitioner before us, who is a Member of Parliament. The 3rd Judicial Magistrate, Krishnagar, Nadia, had sought to take cognizance of the complaint. However, this court is not designated for trying offenses involving a Member of Parliament or a Member of State Legislature,” the Court asserted.
Consequently, the proceedings will be relocated from the Magistrate court in Krishnanagar, Nadia, to the designated special court for MP/MLA cases located at Bidhannagar in North 24 Parganas. The High Court instructed that the special MP/MLA court at Bidhannagar should re-evaluate the case at the pre-cognizance stage.
The complaint against Moitra alleged that she made objectionable remarks, some of which were deemed insulting to women. The Krishnanagar Magistrate court had previously issued an arrest warrant for Moitra on August 19 after her absence from court proceedings. Moitra responded by petitioning the High Court, challenging the Magistrate’s cognizance. Consequently, the High Court stayed the arrest warrant on August 19.
In its final order on September 7, the High Court emphasized the jurisdictional limitations of the Magistrate court. The Bench referred to the Supreme Court’s directives in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India, which mandate that cases against Members of Parliament and State Legislatures be expedited by designated special courts.
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The High Court directed the District Judge at Nadia to immediately forward all case records to the District Judge at North 24 Parganas, who will then transfer them to the special MP/MLA court at Bidhannagar. The High Court stated, “On receipt of such records, the learned Judicial Magistrate, Special Court is requested to proceed in accordance with law as against the petitioner and the other accused, treating the proceedings as one of a pre-cognizance stage.”
The Court also nullified the cognizance order and all subsequent decisions made by the Magistrate court. Representing Mahua Moitra were advocates Debasish Roy, Arka Kumar Nag, Soham De Dhara, and Akash Ghosh, while Public Prosecutor Kallol Mondal and advocate Anamitra Banerjee represented the State of West Bengal. Advocates Krishnendu Bhattacharya, Tanusree Kar, and Sneha Ghosh appeared for the de facto complainant.
[Read Order]
