Calcutta High Court protects actor Sreelekha Mitra from arrest over PM Modi poster
2 sources · India
Who reported this
- The Indian Express
- Hindustan Times
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- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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The Calcutta High Court has ordered police not to take coercive steps against actor Sreelekha Mitra in connection with 16 FIRs filed against her for a poster depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Justice Saugata Bhattacharya described the poster as distasteful and stated that it shocked the conscience of the court. The court granted Mitra relief from arrest provided she cooperates with investigators, requiring police to give her 48 hours notice before she must appear for questioning.
Mitra was photographed with the poster on July 24 while joining student protests in Kolkata against NEET examination paper leaks and the tenure of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Following the emergence of the photo on social media, leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party filed police complaints. Mitra stated in a video message that she did not create the poster but borrowed it from a student to pose with it, claiming she could not see the image closely because she was wearing sunglasses instead of prescription glasses.
While the court declined to quash the proceedings to avoid encouraging such obnoxious acts, the actor's senior advocate, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, argued that while the poster was distasteful, it did not constitute a criminal offense.
How each side framed it
- Centre
- The center lean focused on the court's strong reaction to the poster's content.
- Centre-right
- The center-right lean emphasized the court's condemnation of the actor's lack of prudence and the specific legal protections granted to her.
Sources
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