(Deepshikha Gautam, Intern Journalist) New Delhi: The Supreme Court reprimanded the Kolkata Police in one case, saying that ordinary citizens cannot be tortured for criticizing the government. In fact, a woman resident of Delhi was summoned by the Kolkata Police for an allegedly objectionable Facebook post.
The woman had raised questions about the Mamata government’s slacking of lockdown rules by sharing a picture of Kolkata’s congested Raja Bazar area amid the Corona epidemic. A bench of Supreme Court Justices DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee said that if the police of the states start issuing summons to the common people in this way, then it will be a dangerous trend. In such a case, the courts have to go ahead and protect the right to freedom of expression, which is available to every citizen under Article 19 (1) A of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court reprimanded the police and said, ‘Don’t cross the line. Let India remain a free country. Everyone in India has the freedom to speak and we as the Supreme Court are there to protect free speech. The constitution created the Supreme Court for this reason to ensure that the states do not harass common citizens.’
A 29-year-old woman named Roshni Biswas filed a petition in the Supreme Court against Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani against the Calcutta High Court verdict. The High Court had asked the woman to appear before the Kolkata Police over the said Facebook post in which she criticized the Mamata government for blown the lockdown in the Raja Bazar area. The police had filed an FIR against the woman for spreading hatred about the particular community. During the court hearing, West Bengal Government Council R Bansat said that the woman will only be questioned, she will not be arrested.
To this, the bench of the Supreme Court said, ‘It is like threatening the right of freedom of expression of a citizen. A case cannot be tried against anyone because she has said that the lockdown rules are not properly governed.’ The Supreme Court further said, ‘Citizens of the country cannot be moved from one place to another with a social media post criticizing the government. It is like threatening the right to freedom of speech by a citizen.’ The councils of the state government kept insisting that the woman should appear before the police, to which the Supreme Court made a sharp comment, saying, ‘It seems as if you want to tell the woman to write against the government.
How dare, we can drag her from any corner of the country in the name of summons.’ The court said, ‘summoning the woman from Delhi to Kolkata is like disturbing. Tomorrow the police of Kolkata, Mumbai, Manipur, and Chennai will go to summons people from every part of the country. To give the message that you want the freedom of speech, then we will teach you a lesson … This is a dangerous trend.’ The state government council, after finding a middle ground, said that Kolkata Police will go to Delhi and interrogate the woman. Therefore, the woman should be asked to cooperate in the investigation. The Supreme Court bench agreed to this.
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