The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday restrained West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and three others from making defamatory statements against Governor CV Ananda Bose till August 14, reported Bar and Bench.
The court was hearing an interim application moved by Bose as part of his defamation suit against Banerjee, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh and two MLAs from the party – Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar.
The case relates to statements made by Banerjee and the others after sexual harassment allegations were made against Bose in May by a staffer at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.
On Monday, Banerjee’s lawyer told the court that there was nothing defamatory about the chief minister’s remarks. She had said that women no longer felt safe visiting the Raj Bhavan in light of the sexual harassment allegations.
The court, however, said that the governor is a constitutional authority who cannot counter personal attacks on social media. It also said that defamatory statements, which have the effect of tarnishing a person’s reputation, cannot be made on the pretext of freedom of speech.
“…the Court is of the view that the statements have been made in reckless manner in order to cause injury to the reputation of the plaintiff…If at this stage, an interim order is not granted it would give the free hands to the defendants to continue making defamatory statements against the plaintiff,” the court remarked on Tuesday.
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