Kolkata, Sep 16 The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL regarding alleged comments by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a public rally concerning the murder of a Bangladeshi activist.
The court held that the petition was not maintainable as a public interest litigation.
The West Bengal government had earlier submitted a report before the high court stating that no cognisable offence was made out of her comments at the said rally.
A division bench presided by Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge dismissed the PIL filed by a lawyer regarding Banerjee's alleged comments.
During an earlier hearing on September 1, the court questioned the maintainability of the PIL regarding Banerjee's alleged comments at a public rally about the murder of the Bangladeshi activist, observing that public interest litigations are being used as a "special tool or weapon."
The division bench, then presided by Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, asked why the petition should be treated as a PIL.
The petitioner alleged that Banerjee made some controversial remarks regarding the murder of Bangladeshi activist Sharif Osman Hadi in Dhaka in December 2025, which he claimed had an impact on India's national interest.
The petitioner claimed before the division bench that the comments were made on June 2 during a political rally in Kolkata, maintaining that the former chief minister is bound by the Official Secrets Act.
Mamata Banerjee's counsels Kalyan Bandopadhyay and Arka Kumar Nag submitted before the court that the petitioner could not show how any provision of the Official Secrets Act had been violated.
Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumder, representing the state, stated that an enquiry confirmed the petitioner was not present at the venue and that no untoward activity was reported there.
