Guwahati: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was summoned by The Mazgaon Magistrate Court in Mumbai for allegedly insulting the national anthem during one of her visits to the city on December 1, 2021.
Advocate Vivekanand Gupta, a BJP functionary, has filed a complaint against her under Section 3 of the 1971Prevention of Insult to National Honours Act. Gupta requested that an FIR be filed against Banerjee.
According to the complaint, Mamata Banerjee, who was the main speaker at a programme hosted by writer-poet Javed Akhtar last year, was harassed “When the national anthem began, I was sitting. Later, she rose up and sung two verses before abruptly ceasing to sing the song.” Banerjee’s video, according to Gupta, went popular on social media.
Banerjee demonstrated “total disdain towards the national anthem,” according to Gupta’s complaint to the court, and she even fled the venue after abruptly interrupting the anthem.
“Though the accused is the Chief Minister of West Bengal, she did not discharge her official obligations,” Gupta claimed in court.
“Prima-facie, it is evident from the complaint, the complainant’s verification statement, the video clip in the DVD, and video clips on YouTube links that the accused sang the national anthem but abruptly stopped and left the venue, which prima facie proves that the accused has committed a punishable offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971,” PI Mokashi said in issuing the process.
Despite her residence outside the region of jurisdiction, there is no cause to postpone the process against the accused under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.