Calcutta High Court, in a recent development, dismissed a hate speech case from 2016 against former Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary, along with the channel's reporter Pooja Mehta and cameraperson Tanmay Mukherjee, as per the case titled [Pooja Mehta vs State of West Bengal]. This case had emerged from their coverage of the Dhulagarh Riots, where they were accused of promoting animosity between two communities.
In an order delivered on August 3rd, Justice Bibhas Ranjan De, the sole presiding judge, highlighted the prosecution's failure to present substantial evidence under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. This section pertains to acts that incite communal disharmony based on various factors. The court carefully scrutinized the case diary and observed that within a mere 51 days, the Investigating Officer managed to record statements from only two individuals. Remarkably, both statements appeared strikingly similar and lacked any intention to spark hostility between the two communities.
Furthermore, the Court underlined that the First Information Report (FIR) indicated no untoward incidents following Chaudhary and his team's visit to the site after December 16, 2016. Based on these considerations, the court concluded that continuing with the case would amount to an abuse of the judicial process and would not align with the pursuit of justice. Consequently, the judge made the decision to quash the proceedings.
This verdict resulted from a petition filed by the trio, who sought the dismissal of the FIR lodged on December 17, 2016, in response to a complaint filed by an individual named Chiranjeet Das. The complainant alleged that Zee News' coverage on December 16th propagated the notion that the disturbances in Dhulagarh on December 13th and 14th were primarily driven by communal tensions. According to Das, this news broadcast contributed to real communal tensions in the locality.
In their defense, the journalists contended that several media outlets had reported on the Dhulagarh incident, yet only Zee News was singled out in Das' FIR. The State, however, countered this argument by suggesting a political bias in Zee News' coverage.
Ultimately, the Court's decision to quash the proceedings stemmed from the insufficiency of evidence presented. The Petitioners were represented by Advocates Sourav Chatterjee, Supriya Ranjan Saha, and Subhrangsu Mitra, while Advocates Binay Panda and Subham Bhakat appeared on behalf of the State.
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TAGS: Calcutta High Court hate speech case Zee News Sudhir Chaudhary Pooja Mehta Tanmay Mukherjee Dhulagarh Riots Section 153A Indian Penal Code prosecution evidence communal enmity First Information Report (FIR) quash proceedings judicial process justice petition Chiranjeet Das media coverage political bias Advocates Sourav Chatterjee Supriya Ranjan Saha Subhrangsu Mitra Advocates Binay Panda Subham Bhakat.
