Critical social media post against WB CM: SC grants 7-day protection to activist

The Supreme Court Thursday granted seven-day protection from arrest to social activist Anirban Das against whom a case has been lodged for publishing a social media post critical of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A vacation bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Aniruddha Bose, while granting seven-days protection from arrest, said that Das can move the concerned court for relief.

Advocate Dipak Jena, appearing for Das, said there was a lawyer strike in West Bengal and he may be arrested by the police for writing the post on social media. The bench told him that there was no strike at present in the courts in West Bengal and he can approach the appropriate courts for the relief.

Jena said that police has lodged an FIR against him at Alipurduar police station and Das had already tendered an unconditional apology to a local Trinamool Congress leader, who made the complaint against him.