The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to actor-turned-BJP MLA Hiranmoy (Hiran) Chatterjee in connection with a case of alleged bigamy filed by his first wife Anindita Chatterjee.
Justice Jay Sengupta granted the anticipatory bail in the matter.
Publicly questioning the legality of the second marriage — the photos of which had gone viral on social media in January — Anindita filed a complaint at the Anandapur police station, alleging mental and physical abuse. Based on Anindita’s complaint, the Kolkata Police had filed a case against Hiran under multiple non-bailable sections, following which Hiran approached the court for anticipatory bail.
According to Hiran’s counsel, Anindo Sundar Das, the court has asked Hiran to cooperate with the investigation and to appear before Anandapur police station every 15 days.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Das said, “The other counsel had stated that custodial interrogation was required but Justice Sengupta heard all sides and ordered that there was no requirement of custodial interrogation.”
According to Das, his client has stated that during a shooting some pictures were taken and they were mischievously uploaded on social media. “My client has stated that he has been married for the last 26 years and there has been no second marriage. Also, the allegations of mental and physical torture and domestic violence are completely false. For so many years there was no allegation, suddenly why now?”
Das further added that the MLA has filed a complaint in this regard.
In January, pictures of Hiran and model Ritika Giri’s purported marriage ceremony held in Varanasi went viral. Photographs showed Giri in a red Banarasi saree and Chatterjee in a yellow kurta.
Chatterjee’s first wife, Anindita, publicly questioned the second marriage, calling it “illegal”.
The BJP MLA, meanwhile, has already started his campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls.
Hiran had joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls and won from Kharagpur Sadar constituency in Paschim Medinipur.