The Calcutta High Court has dismissed criminal cases against a man accused of posting derogatory remarks and mocking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other political leaders on YouTube.

In quashing the case, Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta held:

"After careful scrutiny of the materials available in the case diary, this Court does not find any sufficient or cogent evidence or even prima facie case against the present petitioner. Mere filing of charge sheet without any material or shaky evidence would not suffice the purpose of continuing trial against the Petitioner. Even if, for the sake of argument, if the proceeding is continued, the possibility of conviction of petitioner appears bleak and remote and as such the continuation of the criminal proceedings would put the accused to great oppression and prejudice. Therefore, the continuation of the criminal proceedings would not be justifiable and to secure the ends of justice, the proceeding is deserved to be quashed."

The petitioner/accused filed a criminal revision application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, seeking to quash proceedings stemming from a complaint. The complaint alleged that in 2022, the petitioner conspired with others to broadcast derogatory remarks on YouTube against the Chief Minister of West Bengal, mocking her and other political leaders with the intent to defame individuals and incite a breach of peace, thereby endangering social harmony.

The petitioner asserts his complete innocence, claiming no involvement in the alleged offense and arguing that he has been falsely implicated. He contends that the criminal proceedings were initiated with mala fide intent and an ulterior motive to exact vengeance against him. According to the petitioner, allowing the proceedings to continue would amount to an abuse of the legal process and subject him to undue harassment.

It was further argued that the Investigating Officer mechanically filed the charge sheet without conducting a proper investigation, relying solely on paperwork, as the case involved derogatory remarks against the Chief Minister.

Despite the lack of sufficient prima facie evidence, the trial court took cognizance of the case without applying judicial mind or independently assessing the materials, merely based on the charge sheet's submission.

The counsel representing the State argued that the investigation had gathered sufficient material to establish a prima facie case against the petitioner under Sections 153, 500, 501, 509, 505, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It was further contended that the petitioner was actively involved in broadcasting a derogatory video and speech on YouTube, targeting the Chief Minister and other political leaders with the sole intent to defame them.

The Court observed that despite the seriousness of the allegations, particularly in the context of the 2021 assembly elections, the Investigating Officer failed to procure any video clips as evidence and instead relied solely on witness statements while filing the charge sheet.

From the entire case records, this Court does not find the mobile was sent for expert opinion to ascertain that the same gadget was used for broadcasting of alleged derogatory video or speech with sole intent to malign people and provoke breach of peace by endangering social harmony within the society. Furthermore, no data of video clips or speech was retrieved from the YouTube channel to substantiate at least prima facie allegations made by the complainant, the court noted.

Taking into account the well-settled position of the Supreme Court on the matter, the Court observed the lack of evidence in the charge sheet and consequently quashed the case against the petitioner.

Case: Sourav Paul Versus State of West Bengal & Another

Case No: C.R.R. 2581 of 2023