KOLKATA: A court in West Bengal's Nadia district on Wednesday ordered the issuance of an arrest warrant against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, a loyalist of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for non-compliance with its order directing her physical appearance in connection with a case filed against her for allegedly making controversial remarks against the Indian Army.
The Krishnanagar court also directed that an execution report of the arrest warrant against Moitra be submitted before it on August 28.
Besides allegedly making controversial remarks against the Indian Army, the Krishnanagar MP had also made humiliating statements against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
She had also allegedly insulted women and made hate speech, for which pre-cognisance summons had been issued to her by the court.
Noting that she had failed to appear despite repeated summonses, the 3rd Judicial Magistrate at the Krishnanagar Court ordered that an arrest warrant be issued against Moitra immediately.
The judge had on Tuesday directed the Trinamool Congress MP to appear before the court the next day, but noted that she was not present.
"The series of disobedience of the order of this court .... goes to show the lackadaisical approach of the accused to comply with the court order and accordingly this court is left with no other option but to issue a warrant of arrest against her," the court said.
The judge noted in his order that the lawyer representing Moitra said she would not appear before the court at any point of time, holding that she had "No respect for the court of law".
The lawyer for the MP expressed apprehension to the court that she might be heckled outside the court premises if she appeared.
The lawyer appearing for the petitioner, Chayan Nandi, a resident of Krishnanagar, told the media that the court had earlier issued summons to the MP several times, asking her to appear physically before the court, but she had not appeared even for a single day.
A top official of Krishnanagar police district said the complaint case was filed against her under Sections 79 (insulting modesty of a woman), 196 (promoting enmity between groups), 299 (outraging religious feelings), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 353(2) (hate speech).
Mahua on Saturday had alleged that she was heckled late on Friday night, hours before Independence Day.
According to her, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Nadia had called her around 9.45 pm on Friday and asked her to vacate a circuit house, while a crowd allegedly backed by the BJP gathered outside the premises and raised slogans.
She had claimed that BJP workers had assembled outside the state-owned circuit house in Krishnanagar, shouting ‘Jai Sreeram’ slogans.
She did not vacate the circuit house.
She had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his intervention in the matter, prompting Opposition leaders to rally behind her.
They had alleged that the incident on Friday night amounted to a breach of parliamentary privilege and urged the Speaker to intervene.