Muzaffarpur, October 9, 2019: Police in Bihar on October 9 ordered closure of a sedition case filed against 49 acclaimed artists and intellectuals who had written to the prime minister about various social issues.
Police spokesperson Jitendra Kumar said the chief of the Muzaffarpur district police has termed the case “maliciously false” and recommended action against petitioner. The case was filed “just to garner publicity,” he said.
People such as actor and film-maker Aparna Sen, author Ramchandra Guha and film-maker Shyam Benegal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 24 asking that mob killing of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities be stopped immediately.
The police said they would file a case against the complainant – Sudhir Ojha, an advocate — for filing frivolous complaints.
The sedition case against the celebrities was filed early October, leading to a huge nationwide outcry.
“The SSP recommenced closure of the case and action against the complainant for filing a false case without any rhyme or reason,” the officer said. “The investigating officer in the case will file the final report at the local court within a day or two,” he added.
Ojha is known to be linked to Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party. Paswan being an ally of the NDA, the case came as an embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government, party sources said.
Source: ndtv.com