SC nudges Bengal to ensure Mahua Moitra can visit constituency without hurdles

An Alipore court in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district has prohibited TMC leader Mahua Moitra from posting any defamatory content regarding West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal. The decision relates to the deletion of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the Assembly polls. Agarwal, who served as the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal before joining the BJP government as Chief Secretary, was accused of being solely responsible for the controversial voter deletions.

The court issued an order on October 14, mandating Moitra, her associates, and anyone acting on her behalf to refrain from publishing, reposting, sharing, or repeating any defamatory statements against Agarwal. The order specifically targeted two social media posts from October 3 and October 6, 2026, in which Moitra used photographs of Agarwal, labeling him the chief architect of SIR and accusing him of committing numerous legal violations.

Following the court's decision, Agarwal sent a legal notice to Moitra, demanding an unconditional apology and ₹10 crore in damages for the alleged defamation. Despite the legal notice, Moitra refused to remove the tweets. After the court's ruling, Moitra stated she would file a vacating application to assert her right to continue posting the content.

During the proceedings before the Civil Judge, Agarwal's legal counsel argued that as the Chief Secretary, he had no authority to individualize names or include or exclude any names from voter lists.