Mumbai court summons Mamata for ‘disrespecting National Anthem’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has  been issued a summons by a Mumbai court that directed her to appear before it on March 2 for allegedly disrespecting the national anthem during her visit to the city in December 2021. The Chief Minister had allegedly not stood up when the national anthem was played at the event she was attending.Although Mamata Banerjee is a Chief Minister, "a sanction is not required and there is no bar to proceed against the accused" since she was not discharging her official duty, the court said. Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate P I Mokashi observed that Banerjee has prima facie committed offence punishable under section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971, which prescribes punishment of up to three years imprisonment or fine or both for intentionally preventing someone from singing Indian National Anthem or causes disturbance.

The order came on a complaint filed by advocate Vivekanand Gupta, secretary of Mumbai unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gupta, in his complaint, said that Banerjee, while on two days’ visit to Mumbai, attended a public function convened by Javed Akhtar at Yashvantrao Chavan Pratishthan in South Mumbai on December 1. Mamata Banerjee was on a visit to Mumbai last year during which she met leaders of the ruling Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra.