Guwahati: Graffiti artist Marshall Baruah and two others appeared before the chief judicial magistrate’s court on Thursday in a case over alleged slogans against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.Sub-divisional judicial magistrate Pallab Bordoloi fixed Sept 24 for the hearing of charges against Marshall, youth leader Ankuman Bordoloi and Anandita Das. The case was registered for allegedly writing objectionable slogans against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on a large canvas during a protest against the govt’s move to fell trees for a flyover project.They were summoned a day after a mural of singer Zubeen Garg carrying the slogan ‘Comrades Never Die’ on a flyover pillar near the state capital was erased, triggering a June 18 protest. Marshall redrew the mural the same day.Marshall and Ankuman were arrested on Nov 11, 2024, on charges including criminal intimidation, provocation and public nuisance in connection with the case registered at Bharalumukh Police Station. Anandita had obtained anticipatory bail.All three were granted bail on Nov 21, 2024, by additional sessions judge No. 1 Nityananda Talukdar, who said, “It does not appear that further detention of the accused persons may be necessary for the sake of investigation of the case.”The trio had joined protests against tree felling for the Bharalumukh flyover, where about 70 trees were marked for removal. They had earlier protested the proposed felling of 21 trees along the banks of Dighalipukhuri, described as a Mahabharata-era tank, for another PWD flyover project. Zubeen Garg also joined that protest. The government later translocated the trees instead of cutting them, and they survived.
