The Calcutta High Court ruled on July 26 that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can make statements regarding Governor CV Ananda Bose as long as they comply with the law. The court clarified that Banerjee has the right to express her opinions as long as they are not defamatory.
This decision came after the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) challenged a July 15 single bench order that imposed an interim injunction on the CM. The West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh had appealed to a division bench, challenging the single bench's interim order that prohibited the CM and three others from making any defamatory or incorrect statements against the Governor through publications or social media platforms until August 14.
The Governor had sued the CM for defamation over remarks made 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 the Governor's office.
The division bench noted that the single bench's judgment did not explicitly declare the statements in question as defamatory or incorrect. The court observed that the interim order was unclear about which 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 person's reputation is sacrosanct and the law empowers them to protect it. However, freedom of speech and expression is conferred on every citizen of India and cannot be throttled. This freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions, the bench added.