The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Priyanka Sharma against her arrest for sharing a morphed picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, reported Bar and Bench. The bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna said it will take up the matter on Tuesday.
The BJP leader’s advocate told the Supreme Court’s vacation bench that the case should be taken up for urgent hearing since a complete strike of legal work is currently ongoing in West Bengal, Bar and Bench reported.
Sharma was arrested in Howrah district on Friday after she reportedly photoshopped Banerjee’s face on a picture of Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra from the MET Gala in New York. Sharma, who is also the convenor of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha in Howrah, was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.
Trinamool Congress leader Bibhas Hazra had filed a complaint against Sharma. “Such a despicable act with the chief minister’s picture is absolutely unacceptable,” he had told Anandabazar Patrika.
BJP workers have protested against her arrest. They claimed that the arrest was politically motivated. However, BJP Yuva Morcha Vice President in Howrah, Anand Rai, said that they were not involved in distorting the chief minister’s picture and that it was only shared on social media. Rai also threatened to hold protests if the authorities do not resolve the matter.
Sharma’s family has also expressed concern about her arrest. “My daughter was arrested because she worked for the BJP. This is all part of a big plot,” Sharma’s mother was quoted as saying by ANI. “This is the first time she is far away from us. Had she been a TMC worker nothing bad would have happened to her, this is all done by TMC.”
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