Mithun Chakraborty gets big relief from Calcutta HC; FIR for hate speech quashed

In a key development, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday quashed FIR against actor and politician Mithun Chakraborty over his controversial speech during the West Bengal election campaign. The bench comprising Justice Kaushik Chanda also stayed further investigation in the matter.

'No investigation required,' says the court

Taking cognizance that Mithun Chakraborty is a famous actor, Justice Kaushik Chanda said, "Mithun, who is famous for his dialogues, has said this particular dialogue on many occasions. There is no hate speech here." The judge further noted that the dialogue was delivered on March 17, 2021, and added, "It cannot be said that it has led to violence. Therefore, any action of the police is unnecessary."

While directing to quash the FIR, he said that no investigation is required. 

Shortly after the 2021 assembly elections, Mithun Chakraborty joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. While campaigning for the party, the actor turned politician mentioned one of the famous dialogues from his Bengali movie- 'Marbo akhane, lash podbe soshane' (Will kill you here, and your corpse will fall in the crematorium).

Thereafter, the Trinamool Congress filed an FIR in the Maniktala police station in Kolkata. Calling Mithun Chakraborty's dialogue 'provocative', the TMC alleged that it contributed to the post-poll violence in West Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee-led party also said that the dialogue was the triggering point for the enmity between the TMC and the BJP.

Thereafter, Mithun Chakraborty was called for interrogation multiple times, but throughout, he maintained that it was nothing but a popular dialogue from his film and that he was innocent.