Kolkata, 15 October (H.S.) : In a significant legal setback for Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra, the Alipore Court in Kolkata on Thursday restrained her from publishing defamatory statements against West Bengal Chief Secretary and former Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, ordering her to delete contentious social media posts within 24 hours of receiving the directive.

The court stipulated that Moitra is prohibited from sharing new defamatory remarks against Agarwal on public platforms or republishing past statements regarding the matter. Directing the immediate removal of posts dated October 3 and October 6, the court also issued a show-cause notice requiring the parliamentarian to explain why the interim injunction should not be made absolute. In its observations, the court held that while public interest matters, including administrative exercises like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, are open to legitimate criticism and debate, such discourse cannot serve as a pretext for personal character assassination. The court noted that Moitra failed to submit evidentiary substantiation for her allegations of criminality, rendering the accusations prima facie unsubstantiated. The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on January 5.

The controversy originated from Moitra's public criticism of the SIR exercise, wherein she labeled Agarwal a vote thief and accused him of unlawfully disenfranchising millions of legitimate Bengali voters. Her social media post included assertions that the country will come after you and that he would not be spared. Legal counsel representing Agarwal countered that the senior bureaucrat acted strictly in accordance with statutory provisions and Election Commission directives, with no involvement in electoral manipulation or illegalities.

Prior to moving the court, Agarwal had served a formal legal notice seeking an unconditional written apology, the deletion of the posts within 24 hours, and an undertaking against future defamatory remarks, alongside Rs 10 crore in damages and Rs 50,000 toward legal expenses. Agarwal sought judicial intervention following Moitra's public response indicating disregard for the legal notice.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh