COVID-19: Case Against Bengal Doctor For Online Post Faces High Court Ire

Kolkata:

The Calcutta Prime Court docket has directed the West Bengal Police to instantly go back a seized cell phone and a sim card of a health care provider who made some social media posts highlighting the alleged scarcity of protecting tools for fellow pros treating coronavirus sufferers and suspects.

Indranil Khan, an oncologist, moved the court docket on Wednesday alleging harassment via police after an FIR was once filed at Mahestala police station in South 24 Parganas district for a few of his Fb posts in regards to the allegedly poor protecting tools equipped via the state govt to medical doctors attending COVID-19 sufferers in its hospitals.

The physician was once charged below the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly inflicting disharmony and feeling of hatred which disturbed public tranquility and was once referred to as via the police for a long interrogation on March 29 over the social media posts and his cell phone and sim card had been seized, Khan”s attorney Lokenath Chatterjee instructed the court docket of Justice IP Mukerji all over video convention listening to of the petition.

In view of the national lockdown, the Calcutta Prime Court docket is listening to very pressing issues best by the use of video-conferencing.

Justice Mukerji, who went during the posts made via the physician, famous in his order that to a tweet made via the writ petitioner, there was once a answer via the Division of Well being and Circle of relatives Welfare thanking him for highlighting the subject.

Retaining that freedom of speech and expression which is granted below Article 19 of the Charter needs to be scrupulously upheld via the state, the court docket seen that “if an expression of opinion brings the federal government into disrepute, it can’t shield this allegation via intimidation of the individual expressing the opinion”.

Justice Mukerji mentioned the state can accomplish that if a citizen tries to utilise this freedom via seeking to flow into alleged information maliciously to be able to inflicting harm to someone else or to the general public at massive or the country.

He directed that there can be no additional interrogation of the petitioner with out the depart of a right kind court docket.

Justice Mukerji ordered that the police “might get started a legal case in opposition to the petitioner with out arresting him, if at all of the proof prima facie discloses an offence”.

He held that the freedom of the petitioner can best be curtailed via orders of the court docket to be handed in a correctly instituted continuing.

Doing away with the petition, Justice Mukerji restrained the physician from making any posting on social media in regards to the above factor in the intervening time.