GUWAHATI: A youth from Dhekiajuli in Assam, Amit Chakraborty, has landed in legal trouble for simply reacting with a laughing emoji on Facebook.
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The controversy dates back to 2023, when Varnali Deka was serving as the District Commissioner of Kokrajhar. On one of her Facebook posts, a user named Naresh Barua commented, "No makeup today, ma’am?" Amit Chakraborty reacted to this comment with a laughing emoji, a seemingly harmless action that unexpectedly led to serious legal consequences.
Following the incident, Deka filed a police complaint at Kokrajhar Police Station, citing harassment and defamation. As a result, a case was registered against Chakraborty under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Amit Chakraborty was subsequently required to appear before the Kokrajhar District Court on February 13 to file a bail application. He has since been granted bail.
Speaking to GPlus, Amit Chakraborty said, “I was called by Kokrajhar police for a case filed by the IAS officer. I didn’t even know who the Deputy Commissioner was. I can’t understand how an IAS officer found the time to take such extreme action over something so trivial. I don’t even remember which post I had reacted to back in 2023. For simply reacting with a ‘haha’ emoji to a comment, I was harassed— that too by a bureaucrat.”
According to the lawyer, “ IAS officer Varnali Deka filed a police complaint at Kokrajhar Police Station, citing harassment and defamation back when she was DC of Kokrajhar. Three persons were accused, Naresh Baruah, Amit Chakraborty, and Abdul Chaudhury. The bail has been granted in the case. Amit Chakraborty just reacted on a comment of Naresh Baruah to IAS Varnali Baruah.”