Tripura High Court denies quashing of defamation case against content creator

The Tripura High Court has refused to quash criminal defamation and Information Technology Act charges against content creator Madhabi Biswas Chakraborty. The case involves allegedly derogatory social media posts targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Agartala Mayor Dipak Majumdar, and the deity Mata Tripureshwari.

A division bench consisting of Justice T Amarnath Goud and Justice S Datta Purkayath ruled that the petitioner’s statements prima facie constituted a misuse of freedom of speech. The court noted that while political criticism is a component of democracy, posting abusive or defamatory language targeting the Prime Minister is illegal.

The court also addressed the ongoing investigation, noting that while the petitioner’s mobile phone had been seized, investigators had not yet successfully retrieved the specific video clips or screen recordings. The bench stated that the police are permitted to continue investigations, including recovering data from cloud backups or deleted files, to file a supplementary charge-sheet if necessary.