Mumbai court summons West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on complaint by BJP leader alleging disrespect to national anthem

A Mumbai court on Tuesday summoned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a criminal complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai Secretary Vivekanand Gupta alleging Banerjee disrespected the national anthem..At the end of a public function at Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai, Banerjee started singing the National Anthem in the sitting position. She later stood up and sung two verses of the anthem before abruptly stopping and leaving the venue, Gupta stated in his complaint. He discovered this incident after he watched a video recording of the same on the social media, the complaint said.He claimed that this act by Banerjee was "an insult and disrespect to the National Anthem" and an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971.Gupta filed a complaint before the Cuffe Parade police station, however after no action was taken by the police on it, he filed a complaint before the Metropolitan Magistrate at Sewree, Mumbai..Magistrate PI Mokashi perused the complaint and videos submitted."It is prima facie evident from the complaint, verification statement of complainant, video clip in the DVD and video clips on YouTube links that the accused (Banerjee) had sung the National Anthem and stopped abruptly and left the dias which prima facie prove that Banerjee committed (offence) punishable under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act," the Magistrate noted in the order..He deduced that the function attended by Banerjee was not an official government function. Therefore, while attending the function she was not discharging any official duties and consequently, no sanction was required in order to initiate criminal proceedings against her, the Magistrate opined.In light of this, he found "no reason as such to postpone process against Banerjee under Section 202 of Code of Criminal Procedure, though she is residing at a place beyond the area of jurisdiction (of the Court)"..Finding that there was sufficient evidence to summon Banerjee, the Magistrate issued an order summoning Banerjee to appear on March 2, 2022..[Read Order]