Calcutta High Court quashes Criminal Case against YouTuber for mocking CM Mamata Banerjee, cites lack of evidence [Read Judgment]

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against Sourav Paul, who was accused of broadcasting derogatory speech on YouTube against the Chief Minister of West Bengal and other political leaders, citing a lack of evidence and insufficient materials to substantiate the allegations.

Calcutta High Court Ruling: No Evidence Against YouTuber in Mamata Banerjee Case

Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta delivered the judgment, emphasizing that the continuation of proceedings without sufficient evidence would cause undue harassment to the accused.

The court addressed the Criminal Revisional Application (C.R.R. 2581 of 2023) filed by the petitioner seeking quashing of proceedings in G.R. Case No. 1645 of 2022, arising from Entally Police Station Case No. 210 of 2022, under Sections 153/500/501/509/505/120B of the Indian Penal Code.

YouTuber Sourav Paul Cleared: Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings Over Alleged Derogatory Remarks

Examining the case details, the court observed, “The investigating agency could not retrieve the data of video clips or speech from the YouTube channel or authority thereof and further stated that there is also no possibility of retrieving the original data.”

The court highlighted serious deficiencies in the investigation, noting, “No data of video clips or speech was retrieved from the YouTube channel to substantiate at least a prima facie allegation made by the complainant.”

Justice Gupta further observed, “This Court does not find any sufficient materials collected against the present petitioner to allow the proceedings to continue against him because there is no possibility of conviction due to the non-availability of sufficient materials.”

In its ruling, the court stated, “After careful scrutiny of the materials available in the case diary, this Court does not find any sufficient or cogent evidence or even a prima facie case against the present petitioner. The mere filing of a charge sheet without any material or shaky evidence would not suffice to continue the trial against the petitioner.”

The court applied the principles established in the case of State of Haryana & Ors. vs. Bhajan Lal & Ors., concluding that this case falls within the categories where the High Court’s extraordinary powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code should be exercised.

The court directed that the proceedings against Sourav Paul be quashed and that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Trial Court for information.

Mr. Mrityunjoy Chatterjee, Mr. Manas Das, and Mr. Arindam Poali, Advocates, appeared for the petitioner, while Ms. Suman De, Advocate, represented the State of West Bengal.
 

[Read Judgment]