Court issues arrest warrant against Mahua Moitra in hate speech case

In west Bengal, a court in Nadia district on Wednesday ordered the issuance of an arrest warrant against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for not honouring the summons in an alleged hate speech case.The 3rd judicial magistrate at the Krishnanagar court directed that the warrant be issued immediately and ordered that an execution report be submitted on August 28. The court had asked Moitra on Tuesday to appear on Wednesday, but she did not turn up. Her lawyer told the court that the MP would not appear at any point, citing fears that she could be heckled outside the court premises.
The court said, "The series of disobedience of the order of this court .... goes to show the lackadaisical approach of the accused to comply with the court order and accordingly this court is left with no other option but to issue a warrant of arrest against her." A senior official from the Krishnanagar police district said the complaint case filed against Moitra was under section 79 (insulting modesty of woman), section 196 (promoting enmity between groups) 299 (outraging religious feelings, 351 (criminal intimidation) and 353(2) (hate speech). These provisions relate to allegedly insulting the modesty of a woman, promoting enmity between groups, outraging religious feelings, criminal intimidation and hate speech.
The complaint against Moitra relates to a video message she released after an incident in which women gathered outside the court carrying eggs when they heard that the Krishnanagar Trinamool Congress MP was expected to appear. In the video, Moitra advised the women to wear veils and organise various programmes. The video later circulated on social media. The complainant alleged that Moitra's remarks hurt religious sentiments and amounted to religiously provocative comments that insulted both religions. The case was filed in the Krishnanagar court on June 17, 2026.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court refused to entertain Mahua Moitra's plea challenging an order of the Calcutta high court directing her to appear before the police on August 15 in another hate speech case. A top court bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu said it was not inclined to interfere with the HC's order.