After nearly 11 years of legal battle, an Alipore, Kolkata court acquitted Jadavpur University (JU) professor Ambikesh Mahapatra who was arrested in 2012 for allegedly forwarding “defamatory” cartoons of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Mukul Roy.

Prof. Mahapatra had allegedly shared a cartoon sequel based on Satyajit Ray’s ‘Sonar Kella’ after Mukul Roy was made the Union railway minister replacing Dinesh Trivedi. Based on a complaint lodged at East Jadavpur police station, police arrested Mahapatra on April 12, 2012. On September 14, 2021, Mahapatra filed an application before the Alipore Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, seeking an exemption. He was later granted bail by a court.

Mahapatra was booked under sections 66A (b) and (c) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In 2015, however, the Supreme Court struck down section 66A of the IT Act in the case of Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India, calling it unconstitutional. Following this, the CJM court dropped section 66A of the IT Act against Mahapatra but the case dragged on till 2021. Mahapatra then moved a petition before the additional sessions judge who dispose of the case on Wednesday.

The additional sessions judge, 10th court, acquitted Mahapatra of the charges brought against him during the day. The judge set aside an order of the chief judicial magistrate of the Alipore court of September 14, 2021, which rejected Mahapatra’s prayer for discharge from the case. “After nearly 11 years, the case has been disposed of. Despite hundreds of illegal and unconstitutional obstacles created by the state’s general administration, police, ruling party and miscreants, I won the case,” said Mahapatra, a professor of chemistry at Jadavpur University here.
He said “The case was dragged to attack and suppress people’s voices. So, my acquittal is the victory of democracy-loving citizens. This will encourage those who are fighting legal battles to protect democracy,” he told mediapersons. Mahapatra, however, accused the state government of dragging the case for too long in violation of the civil rights of the citizens. “The administration and police kept the case dragging for 11 years. We went from one court to another seeking justice. Finally, the court acquitted me and returned the bail bond money”.

Mahapatra added, “The reason for keeping the case running for so many years is to send a message to the common people that the government cannot be questioned, can’t be criticised.”