Narayan Nath Choudhury, a BJP leader and former vice-chairman of the Panisagar Panchayat Samiti in Tripura, has been acquitted of false charges. The case, which had caused a significant uproar within the BJP at the time, dates back to 2020. After the BJP came to power in the state for the first time, Congress leader Anjali Nath Choudhury filed a case against Narayan Nath Choudhury, the then vice-chairman of the Panisagar Panchayat Samiti, alleging misconduct.
Narayan Nath Choudhury had consistently claimed that the case was a result of a family dispute over land, manipulated by some political leaders. At that time, Dr. Manik Saha, now the Chief Minister, was the BJP state president. Under his direction, an internal party investigation declared Narayan Nath Choudhury innocent. Despite this, he was pressured by a faction within the district party to resign from his vice-chairman position.
The case continued in the district sessions court for four years. Judge Anshuman Debbarma of the North District Sessions Court declared Narayan Nath Choudhury completely innocent on Wednesday.
The prosecution in this high-profile case was handled by PP Partha Pratim Pal, while senior advocate Subrata Sarkar and prominent lawyer Pradip Kumar Nath of Dharmanagar represented Narayan Nath Choudhury.
After the verdict, Narayan Nath Choudhury told journalists that he had always had immense faith in the judicial system and knew he was innocent despite the allegations.
He believed the charges were politically motivated to tarnish his reputation and was confident he would be proven innocent one day. He expressed relief at being acquitted. He, however, emphasized that his primary concern was to ensure the party’s image remained untarnished.
Narayan Nath Choudhury also mentioned that after the charges were filed against him, he resigned on his own from his position, considering the party’s image. However, on June 1, 2020, the then Block Officer H. Bhattacharya informed him in writing that his resignation had not been accepted. Later, a faction of the district leadership, keeping the state leadership in the dark, forced him to resign.
(Tripura, Tripura News)
