Calcutta High Court Shields Hiran and Deb Amidst Election Audio Scandal

The Calcutta High Court has directed police not to arrest actor-politician Hiranmay Chattopadhyay without prior permission in a case involving alleged tampering of opponent Deb's voice. The court allowed the investigation to continue while granting temporary protection to Chattopadhyay. The case originated during the Ghatal Lok Sabha elections.

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that police cannot arrest actor-politician Hiranmay Chattopadhyay without first obtaining permission from the court. This directive comes amidst allegations of tampering with opponent candidate Deb's voice in the run-up to the Ghatal Lok Sabha elections.

Despite granting this protection, the court has allowed the ongoing investigation by police in Paschim Medinipur district's Ghatal police station to proceed. The original case was filed on May 18.

Justice Amrita Sinha, presiding over a petition filed by Chattopadhyay and another individual, ordered that the police must refrain from making arrests without court approval. Both Chattopadhyay, known as Hiran, and Deb, popularly known as Deepak Adhikari, are prominent Bengali actors. Deb won the election as a Trinamool Congress candidate against Chattopadhyay, who represented the BJP.

Advocate Rajdeep Majumder, defending Chattopadhyay and his assistant, argued that the accusation of creating a fake audio of Deb is baseless and has requested the case be dismissed. He mentioned that forensic tests on the voice samples had not been conducted yet, and urged the court to protect the petitioners until the authenticity of the audio can be determined.

The state's counsel opposed this plea, insisting that the investigation should continue without hindrance. Justice Sinha had already restrained police from taking further action until June 17 or further court orders, a day before the Ghatal election on May 24.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)