Bihar: Criminal complaint filed against Konkona Sharma, others for writing open letter on mob lynching

A criminal complaint has been filed in a court here against actor Konkona Sena Sharma and some others who wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the incidents of mob lynching.

The city-based lawyer Sudhir Ojha on Saturday filed the case in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sury Kant Tiwari against nine people including Konkona Sen Sharma and Aparna Sen.

According to the complainant, the case has been filed under Sections 124a (sedition), 153B (assertions prejudicial to national integration), 290 (public nuisance), 297 (trespass to wound religious feelings), 504 (intentional insults) of the India Penal Code (IPC).

"The magistrate has accepted the case and will hear it on August 3," the complainant lawyer told ANI.

In his complaint, he alleged that the intellectuals' letter is a threat to national integrity and intends to malign India's image abroad.

Ojha said: "I have alleged that 49 intellectuals who have written an open letter to the Prime Minister have tried to malign the country's image abroad. They are trying to break this country into pieces in collusion with separatists."

"I have demanded that legal action should be initiated against them under 156 (3) of CrPc," he added.

Expressing concern over instances of mob violence against Muslims and Dalits, 49 intellectuals wrote an open letter on July 23 to Prime Minister Modi demanding to ensure "exemplary punishment" for the perpetrators of such crimes.

Signatories to the letter include Shubha Mudgal, actor Konkona Sen Sharma, and filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, and Mani Ratnam, among others.

The letter also highlighted that 'Jai Shri Ram' is becoming a "provocative war-cry".

In response to the letter, the government has said that Dalits and minorities are safe in the country and that those who are "yet to recover" from the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls are trying to communalise "criminal incidents".