The Calcutta High Court on July 26 ruled that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can make statements regarding Governor CV Ananda Bose as long as they “conform to the laws.”
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court added that Banerjee had the “full right” to say what she wanted as long as her remarks are “not defamatory”.
The order from a Division Bench comprising Justice I P Mukerji and Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury came after the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) challenged a July 15 single bench ordering an interim injunction on the CM.
The West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh had moved an appeal before a division bench, challenging an interim order by a single bench directing the CM and three others not to make any defamatory or incorrect statement against the Governor by way of publication and on social platforms till August 14.
This came after the Governor had sued the CM for defamation over some remarks in connection with the impasse between the Raj Bhavan and the Assembly over the refusal of two TMC MLAs — Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar – to take oath before at Governor’s office.
The division bench noted that the single bench’s judgement did not explicitly declare that the statements in question were defamatory or incorrect. It observed that the interim order was unclear about what specific statements were deemed defamatory and what content was restrained from being published. The court clarified that the order applied only to future statements and did not retroactively affect past communications.
The bench also observed that a man's reputation is sacrosanct to him and the law gives him power to protect it. On the other hand, freedom of speech and expression is conferred on every citizen of India, which cannot be throttled.
This freedom is, however, subject to reasonable restrictions, the bench added.