Alipore Court Restrains Mahua Moitra From Calling Bengal Chief Secretary ‘Vote Chor’

Kolkata , October 15 : An Alipore court has restrained Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra from publishing or sharing allegedly defamatory statements against West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal over the deletion of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

 

 

The court also directed Moitra to delete the posts in question within 24 hours. It specifically restrained her from using terms such as “vote chor” (vote thief) against Agarwal and from repeating allegations that he illegally disenfranchised voters or acted at the behest of a “maalik”.

 

The court has allowed Moitra to file a written objection in the case or seek discharge, modification or setting aside of the interim order.

 

The dispute stems from Moitra’s posts on social media platform X, dated October 3 and October 6, 2026, in which she allegedly called Agarwal a “vote chor” over claims of illegal deletion of voters during the SIR exercise. Agarwal previously served as West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

 

 

 

On October 9, Agarwal issued a legal notice to the parliamentarian, demanding an unconditional apology and ₹10 crore in damages for alleged defamation. He subsequently approached the court.

 

The court also permitted Agarwal to communicate the interim order to X for the removal of the posts under Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, read with Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, if Moitra fails to comply with the deletion direction within 24 hours.