Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra continues to fight his lonely battle against the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. He was booked and arrested in 2012 for forwarding an Internet joke lampooning chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The police applied sections 500, 509, and 114 against him added with section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
The IPC sections were earlier removed by the police, but now when the Supreme Court has scrapped the section 66A of the IT act applied against the professor, the West Bengal police have reapplied the IPC sections against Ambikesh Mahapatra causing unabated trouble of legal procedure to the professor.
The state administration accused Ambikesh Mahapatra under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as well as Sections 500, 509, and 114 of the Indian Penal Code after he was detained in April 2012 for posting a joke mocking chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The three IPC sections were withdrawn and only Section 66A of the IT Act was included in the police’s charge sheet when it was presented in July 2012.
Ambikesh Mahapatra, a lecturer at Jadavpur University, has been charged with violating Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, but two allegations that were withdrawn by police when they presented a charge sheet in court have reappeared. Because of the ongoing criminal case against him, the professor has had to appear in court 72 times over the last 10 years even though the alleged original offence did not hold up. He also has to renew his passport annually.
The complainant in Mahapatra’s case filed an appeal in 2015 to reinstate Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC since the Supreme Court ordered that all charges brought under Section 66A of the IT Act be dismissed. This development took place on Wednesday 12th October 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled that Provision 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, which was repealed in 2015, could not be used against any individual and invalidated any charges that had already been filed under the section. Defamation is a crime covered by Section 500 of the IPC, whereas insulting a woman’s modesty by words or actions is a crime covered by Section 509. If the accusations are found to be true, the maximum penalty is three years in jail.
According to a report by The Telegraph, Ambikesh Mahapatra said, “It was surprising how the court took cognizance of the prayer (to revive these charges) even after the police had dropped these sections. The decision if I should be tried under Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC is still pending in the court even after I have been discharged from Section 66A of the IT Act.”
Ambikesh Mahapatra teaches chemistry at Jadavpur University. He has two children. He said, “I am still making rounds of the courts, challenging orders, defending myself against the administration. Initially, I got a lot of support from my friends, my colleagues, and my housing cooperative. Many of the lawyers who fought for me, offered their service free of cost, backing me for the stand I took. But gradually, after a decade, now I am fighting a lone battle.”
This case against Ambikesh Mahapatra was filed based on a complaint by Amit Sardar. Trinamul Congress leader advocate Baiswanar Chatterjee is representing Amit Sardar in the court. Mahapatra has appeared in court for six hearings so far this year; the following hearing is scheduled for November 30, 2022. Mahapatra had been at the court on multiple times while on leave from his job only to be informed that the court would not be hearing the case that day.