Dr. Indranil Khan vs State Of West Bengal & Ors on 1 April, 2020 (I. P. Mukerji, J.) Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/66155201/ 3

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Khan v. State of West Bengal

Case Law

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Latitude: 23.078537445745496

Longitude: 78.60363571015989

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Keywords

Case Summary: The Calcutta High Court ordered the police to return the petitioner's mobile phone and SIM card which they had seized while interrogating him over several social media posts he had allegedly made about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs) supplied by the Government to doctors in public hospitals treating COVID-19 infected patients. The police had registered a complaint against the petitioner for allegedly inciting enmity between persons and disturbing public harmony contrary to Section 153A of the Penal Code. The Court held that prima-facie, the ingredients of Section 153A were not made out and further directed the police not to interrogate the petitioner again without the permission of a competent court. It observed that as per the protection of freedom of expression granted by Article 19 of the Constitution, the Government cannot intimidate a person by subjecting him to lengthy police interrogations or seizures merely because that person expressed an opinion that brought disrepute to the Government. Columbia Global Freedom of Expression notes that some of the information contained in this report was derived from secondary sources.

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