Disrespect to national anthem: Mumbai Court dismisses complaint by BJP leader against Mamata Banerjee

A complaint filed against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing her of showing disrespect to the national anthem was dismissed by a Mumbai court on Monday..The complaint against Banerjee was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai Secretary Vivekanand Gupta alleging that during a public function at Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai, Banerjee had started singing the National Anthem in the sitting position and later stood up and sung two verses of the anthem before abruptly stopping and leaving the venue.Metropolitan magistrate SB Kale observed that the legislature had demarcated between 'singing' and 'reciting' of the National Anthem to specify the intention to prosecute people. "'Singing' the National Anthem and 'Reciting' certain words or lines out of it are two different things. It cannot be equated with each other. Otherwise, the person like teacher or speaker explaining the National Anthem to his audience will be held responsible for disrespecting the National Anthem. It was not and will not be the intention of the legislature to prosecute such person" the 3-page order emphasized. .Gupta claimed that Banerjee's acts amounted to an insult and disrespect to the National Anthem and an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971.He filed a complaint before the Mazgaon Metropolitan Magistrate who issued an order summoning Banerjee to appear on March 2, 2022.Banerjee challenged the same before the Sessions Court which set aside the summons and remanded the matter back to the Magistrate for fresh consideration.Banerjee then moved the High Court challenging the sessions court order, The High Court dismissed the same on March 29, 2023.Following this, the Magistrate court ordered the Cuffe Parade police on March 29, 2023 to investigate the complaint and submit its report by April 28. The investigation was ordered into the allegations of commission of offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act. The issuance of process against Banerjee was postponed by the Magistrate till the receipt of said report. The magistrate then dismissed the complaint. .The Magistrate saw a portion of the video that had been provided by the complainant in support of his complaint. The magistrate however noted that the video did not disclose whether Banerjee was singing or trying to sing the Anthem. It also did not indicate that Banerjee tried to stop the singing abruptly, the Magistrate noted. "The complainant chose to pick the video footage running from 17 to 19 seconds only. The earlier and later portion of the video is more important as it could have assisted to establish the context in which the accused recited portion of the Anthem. However, no efforts were seen to have made by the complainant to procure detailed video footage of the event", the court said. .[Read order]