Legal notice against Dilip Ghosh demanding apology for remarks on Chief Minister

Ramaprasad Sarkar, a High Court advocate, has sent a legal notice to Dilip Ghosh, the state Bharatiya Janata Party President, asking him to withdraw his statements against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made on December 9 and 10 and tender apology by calling a press conference ‘within three days’ failing which civil and criminal cases would be filed against him.

On December 9 and 10, Ghosh in a public rally said that the Chief Minister had gone too far with the demonetisation issue. She was criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she could have been “thrown out by pulling her hair by police had we so desired.”

TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, in a press conference, held on Sunday had said: “Ghosh was using abusive and goonda like language against Mamata Banerjee,” adding that Trinamool was not taking the matter lightly.

Meanwhile, the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque Maulana Noor-ur Rahman Barkati issued a fatwa against the state BJP president on Monday for "making filthy comments against the Chief Minister". Raising questions on the audacity of Ghosh to make such comments against the Chief Minister, he said: “Mamata Banerjee is the most secular leader of our country”.

After the demonetisation of high value notes was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 and Banerjee started criticising him alleging that the step was taken without doing any home work, Ghosh laid a series of attacks on Banerjee using abusive language. 

Some BJP leaders, on the condition of anonymity, said they did not like it either, adding that even during the time of Sarada and Narada scams the party did not make any personal attack on her. BJP supporters close to Ghosh had burnt an effigy of Mamata Banerjee on December 7. It is a highly unusual practice to burn effigies of women leaders. During the Emergency, even the leaders who opposed Indira Gandhi did not burn her effigies.