A court in the western Indian city of Mumbai on Wednesday summoned Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 2 in a case of alleged disrespect to the national anthem during her visit to the financial capital in December.
The summons came in the wake of a petition filed by a local leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alleging that Mamata did not stand up when the country’s national anthem was played at an event she was attending in Mumbai.
The court said that it found prima-facie evidence against Mamata and made it clear that she could be summoned “without any sanction” as she was not attending the event as the Chief Minister but as the head of Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress.
“Though the accused is the chief minister of West Bengal, she was not discharging her official duties (during the event in Mumbai). Therefore, a sanction is not required and there is no bar to proceed against the accused,” the judge said.
Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India, originally composed as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. If found guilty under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, Mamata faces a jail term of up to three years.
The Bengal Chief Minister did not comment on the summons.
Source: United News of Bangladesh