Mumbai court dismisses plea against Mamata over national anthem: Singing different from reciting certain words from it

The court had dismissed the complaint on Monday and a detailed copy of the order was made available on Wednesday.

Lawyer Vivekanand Gupta, who had filed the plea against the chief minister, had alleged that

Banerjee began singing the national anthem while seated at a public function in Mumbai in December 2021.

Seeking action under relevant sections of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 against the TMC chief, Gupta, who presented video clips of the event, claimed that Mamata Banerjee later stood up, sang two verses of the anthem and abruptly stopped and left the venue.

In February 2022, the magistrate court issued summons to Banerjee stating that a prima facie case is made out against her. She, however, appealed before a special court, which in January, 2023, set aside the summons and asked the magistrate court to give the case a hearing again.

Taking note of the video clips submitted by the complainant, the court said in the order: “After watching the portion of video having a duration of 17 to 19 seconds, I find that at the relevant time, the accused (Banerjee) is seen reciting some words out of the national anthem. The video does not disclose that the accused was singing the national anthem or that she ever tried to sing the national anthem at the relevant time. Moreover, the accused is not seen abruptly stopping the singing of the national anthem or leaving the venue,” the order stated.

The magistrate further noted that the complainant chose to pick the video, running from 17 to 19 seconds, and there was “no material produced on record by the complainant to show in which context the accused recited those lines of the national anthem at the relevant time.”

The court said the full video was more important as it could have helped in establishing the context in which Banerjee recited the said portion of the national anthem.

“However, no efforts were seen to have been made by the complainant to procure detailed video footage of the event,” the court added and dismissed Gupta’s plea.