Patna HC quashes six years old case against writer Taslima Nasrin

PATNA: The

Patna high court

quashed a six years old complaint case against Bangladesh born Swedish citizen and internationally acclaimed writer Taslima Nasrin on Thursday for hurting religious sentiments of minority community by one of her tweets made in October 2011.

The tweet was related to Muslim women which was published in a Hindi vernacular in New Delhi after which the controversy had arose.

The complaint case against the

international

writer was filed by an advocate Murad Ali before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) at Bettiah in

West Champaram

on October 24, 2011.

The CJM court took cognizance in the case on May 24, 2012 and later in the same year on September 28, non-bailable warrant of arrest was issued against Nasrin which she had received through the foreign division of Union ministry of home affairs in New Delhi.

Nasrin’s counsel Amit Srivastava said that the bench of Justice Arun Kumar while hearing the case, said that the CJM court, without conducting a mandatory enquiry under Section 202 of CrPC, took cognizance in the case.

“The bench of Justice Kishore Kumar Mandal had stayed the proceeding as well as execution of non-bailable warrant against Nasrin on April 14, 2013 after she moved before Patna high court in the matter on February 22, 2013,” he said adding that complainant Ali even after filing a vakalatnama, never appeared in any of the hearing at high court till date.

The high court in its judgement said the writer’s tweet was neither malicious nor it was made intentionally.

The cognizance was taken under Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings), 298 (deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 499 (defamation) of Indian Penal Code.

Additional public prosecutor Mukeshwar Dayal had represented the state government in the case.

The case had come up for hearing before three different benches one after the other over period of period of four years before the final judgement was delivered by Justice Arun Kumar on Thursday.