The case was registered at Hare Street police station after a complaint by Kolkata resident Tushar Kanti Das, who alleged that Banerjee’s speech at the Y Channel area in central Kolkata was intended to provoke a breach of peace and disturb communal harmony. The complaint was initially filed as a zero FIR at Netaji Nagar police station on June 5 and transferred two days later because the place of occurrence fell under Hare Street’s jurisdiction.
The FIR invokes sections 196, 351 and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. These provisions deal with promoting enmity between groups, criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace. The most serious of the invoked offences carries a maximum jail term of three years, along with fine, if the charge is proved in court.
The complaint centres on Banerjee’s five-day sit-in at Dharmatala against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls before the assembly polls. She had accused authorities of deleting names of voters and argued that citizens from different parts of the country were safe in Bengal under Trinamool rule. The complainant alleged that part of her speech suggested a particular community could retaliate if political power changed hands, creating fear and insecurity among residents.
Banerjee’s remarks, as cited in the complaint, are being examined in the context of a heated election campaign marked by allegations of polarisation, voter-list deletions and communal mobilisation. Police will have to establish whether the words attributed to her meet the legal threshold for criminal liability or remain protected political speech made during a protest.
Trinamool leaders have rejected the case as politically driven, arguing that Banerjee’s comments were being selectively interpreted after the party’s defeat. They contend that the former chief minister had been warning against attacks on minorities and migrant communities rather than inciting violence. The party has also pointed to her statement that people from all states could live peacefully in Bengal.
The FIR adds to mounting pressure on Banerjee after the May election results ended Trinamool’s 15-year hold on power. The Bharatiya Janata Party secured a decisive mandate, while Trinamool was reduced to the opposition benches. Banerjee also lost in Bhabanipur, a seat long associated with her political dominance.
Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated her in Bhabanipur and later assumed the chief minister’s office, has moved quickly to present the new government as a break from the Trinamool era. His administration has promised industrial revival, administrative restructuring and a tougher approach to law and order. That political shift has sharpened the stakes around cases involving senior Trinamool figures.
The latest FIR is the third complaint linked to Banerjee since the change of government. One complaint filed in Siliguri related to her comments on developments in Bangladesh and alleged that they risked inflaming cross-border tensions. Another accused her and others of misusing an Eid congregation at Red Road for political purposes. Those matters remain at preliminary stages.
Legal experts say speech-related prosecutions under the new criminal code will be closely watched because courts must balance public order concerns with constitutional protections for political expression. The language of section 196, which addresses promotion of enmity on grounds including religion, race, language and community, requires investigators to examine intent, impact and context. Sections 351 and 352 carry lower penalties but still require proof that intimidation or provocation was deliberate.
