Calcutta High Court Declines Plea Against Bengali Singer Nachiketa For Allegedly Insulting Lord Ram In Concert, Cites Lack Of Evidence

The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a plea accusing Bengali singer Nachiketa Chakraborty of hurting religious sentiments over a clip taken during one of his concerts, where he is seen to be making alleged objectionable remarks against Lord Ram.Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta upheld the trial court's order, which found a lack of evidence in the plea filed by the secretary of the Bishwa Hindu Parishad."This Court also finds upon perusal of the application filed u/s 156(3) of Cr.P.C. that only the contents of social media mentioning, without any date, time and place of the concert and without any authenticity, cannot be the ground to take cognizance of such offence even though the allegation of offence is serious in nature. This Court also notes that even the record does not reflect any other allegation(s) or any incident of riot in this regard from any corner to date. No other complaints were found in the records either," he said."In the backdrop of the aforesaid facts, and due to lack of sufficient materials placed on the part of the Petitioner, this Court does not find any illegality, infirmity or perversity against the order dated 04.08.2023 passed by the Learned Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate for rejecting the application under Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C. filed by the petitioner before him. Therefore, this present revisional application is devoid of merit," he added.It was alleged that the accused, during a live concert, tried to provoke the common people, particularly citizens of India and outraged the religious sentiments of the followers of Lord Ram.In the police report called for by the Magistrate, it was revealed that the alleged accused was neither a resident under the said jurisdiction nor did he perform a live concert under the Shyampukur police station.The petitioner contended that the Magistrate acted illegally by not considering the hate speech which was shown on social media platforms, and the question of territorial jurisdiction of the Court does not arise as the petitioner's official address falls within the jurisdiction of the concerned police station and, therefore, the Magistrate completely erred in law by not allowing the application u/s 156(3) of the CrPC.Counsel stated that a video of the said live concert, containing the provocative and insulting hate speech of said Nachiketa Chakraborty, is already spreading on different social media platforms, criticising the current education system, insulting the religious sentiments of certain communities, and also harming the integrity of the nation. Upon hearing the petitioner, the court noted that the allegation appeared to be serious since the speech criticised the current education system of the country as well as hurt the sentiments of certain religious communities, but when the application was filed by the petitioner, the magistrate had directed an enquiry.However, the inquiry report revealed that the alleged accused, Nachiketa Chakraborty, does not reside under Shyampukur PS and, as such, has not performed a live music concert or spread any hate speech in the jurisdiction of Shyampukur PS for the last three years.Accordingly, the court upheld the findings of the magistrate and dismissed the plea.Case: Anirban Bhattacharya Versus The State of West Bengal & AnotherCase No: C.R.R. 4119 of 2023Click here to read order

Calcutta High Court Declines Plea Against Bengali Singer Nachiketa For Allegedly Insulting Lord Ram In Concert, Cites Lack Of Evidence

Srinjoy Das

"Only the contents of social media mentioning, without any date, time and place of the concert and without any authenticity, cannot be the ground to take cognizance of such offence," the court said.

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