The hearing in the case against actor and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Tapas Paul for threatening to let his men loose on supporters of the Opposition, was posted for September 10 here on Tuesday.
Extending the stay on the execution of an order of filing FIR against Mr. Paul till September 19, Justice Nishita Mhatre said if any matter was to be presented to her in Bengali, it should be translated into English by the official translator.
The matter was referred to Justice Mhatre by the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Manjula Chellur after a Division Bench gave contradictory verdicts on the issue.
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Justice Mhatre is the third judge in the case, after Justice Dipankar Dutta and a Division Bench comprising Justices Girish Chandra Gupta and Tapobrata Chakraborty. While Justice Gupta set aside the single bench order directing the police to register an FIR and the CID to probe the matter, Justice Chakraborty upheld the single bench order.
Justice Dutta had earlier criticised the police for not starting a case against Mr. Paul. The AITC MP’s outrageous comments, threatening to “shoot down” political opponents and “unleash his boys to rape” their family members, sparked a public outcry. Later, Mr. Paul apologised for his comments and claimed he had meant to say ‘raid’ and not ‘rape’.