A Special Court in Agartala on Thursday has convicted and sentenced to one most wanted and  a social media channel ‘Independent’,  journalist Saikat Talapatra to rigorous imprisonment of 4 years and concurrently a total of 12 years of Rigorous Imprisonment, along with 11 years and 6 months of simple Imprisonment under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Information Technology (IT) Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Accused Saikat Talapatra was from Sodepur area of West Bengal on October 6th, 2023 last by a special cell of Tripura police on charges of maligning Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, his family members and many other politicians through his online channel. Since then, Talapatra in judicial custody at the central jail of Tripura. There are several cases filed against Talapatra in many police stations in Tripura.

Through his YouTube and Facebook channels before his arrest in October, 2023,  Talapatra  also maligned Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and his family members,  former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Tipra-Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman and many other politicians.

Meanwhile, the Special Judge Ashutosh Pandey  of Court No. 1, West Tripura district in Agartala on Thursday (June 4th, 2026), found Saikat Talapatra, son of Lt. Ranjit Talapatra of A.D. Nagar Road No. 6, Agartala, guilty in connection with West Agartala police station Case No. 190/2023.

The court awarded separate sentences under different sections of law; including convictions under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 153A IPC (Promoting enmity between different groups) and sentenced to 2 years Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.

Under section 294 IPC (Obscene acts and songs) and sentenced to 10 days Simple Imprisonment.

Under Section 354A IPC (Sexual harassment) and sentenced to 6 months Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. Under section 504 IPC (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and sentenced to 1 year Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000, under section 505 IPC (Statements conducing to public mischief) and sentenced to 2 years Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000.

Under Section 509 IPC (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and sentenced to 2 years Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000.

Conviction under section 67 of the Information Technology Act (Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and sentenced to 2 years Simple Imprisonment and a fine of ₹30,000.

Convictions Under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and section 3(1)(r) (Intentional insult or intimidation with intent to humiliate a member of SC/ST in public view), 4 years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. Section 3(1)(u) (Promoting feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will against SC/ST communities) and  4 years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000.

Section 3(1)(w)(ii) (Sexual exploitation/abuse-related offence against an SC/ST woman) and  4 years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. Section 3(1)(va) (Offence under IPC committed against a person on the ground of belonging to SC/ST) and  2 years Simple Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000.

The court further ordered that all sentences shall run concurrently in connection with Special (SC/ST) Atrocities Case No. 01/2023.

In default of payment of fines, the convict will have to undergo additional periods of simple imprisonment as specified in the judgment.

The case was investigated by Dy. SP  Sourav Sen, who submitted the charge sheet (No. 157/2023) on December 17, 2023. Following the trial, the court found the accused guilty of the charges and sentenced him accordingly.

Police officials stated that the conviction reflects the judiciary’s commitment to addressing offences involving communal disharmony, sexual harassment, cyber-related obscenity, and atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.