Overview
- An Alipore court on Thursday directed Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra to delete two X posts from October 3 and October 6 and restrained her from publishing, reposting or sharing the same allegations.
- West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal filed a defamation suit seeking removal of the posts, a written apology, an undertaking against future remarks, Rs 10 crore in damages and Rs 50,000 for legal costs.
- The judge said Moitra had not produced sufficient evidence to back claims that Agarwal illegally disenfranchised lakhs of voters during the Special Intensive Revision and warned that policy criticism cannot be used to make defamatory allegations.
- Moitra responded that she will file a vacating application to challenge the injunction and defended her right to call someone a 'Vote Chor.'
- The order is interlocutory and will be reconsidered at the January 5 hearing, a ruling that could shape how courts balance political speech about election administration against officials’ reputations.