West Bengal Governor asks Raj Bhavan employees to not help police probe into molestation charge against him

Bose dismissed the allegation as an ‘election ploy’ by a political party. He left for Kochi a day after the complaint was registered against him.

Kolkata: West Bengal governor, C V Ananda Bose, on Sunday asked all employees of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to refrain from giving any statement to the police probing a molestation complaint lodged against him by a woman.

Though Kolkata Police constituted a team to probe into the allegation and sought CCTV footage from the Raj Bhavan, the governor asked his officials to ignore any communication from the cops. He had barred the entry of the cops into the Raj Bhavan immediately after the complaint of molestation was lodged against him at the Hare Street Police Station in Kolkata on Thursday.

Bose dismissed the allegation as an ‘election ploy’ by a political party. He left for Kerala's Kochi a day after the complaint was registered against him.

He sent a communique to the Raj Bhavan citing Article 361 (2) and (3) of the Constitution of India and underlining that the President of India and the governor of any state enjoyed constitutional immunity from any criminal proceeding being instituted or continued against him. “Therefore, it is clear that the state machinery cannot set in motion any sort of criminal proceedings, whatsoever, against the governor,” read the communique posted on the X by the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

A woman, who has been working as a contractual employee at the Raj Bhavan since 2019, accused the governor of touching her inappropriately and making untoward advances on April 24, when she had gone to meet him with her curriculum vitae as he had asked her to do. The woman alleged that she had been asked to meet the governor again on Thursday, but she had got her supervisor to accompany her this time around. The governor, however, made the supervisor leave and again touched her inappropriately. She first went to the police outpost at the Raj Bhavan and was later taken to the Hare Street Police Station.

The woman lodged the complaint just a few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Kolkata and drove to the Raj Bhavan to spend the night. He addressed three election rallies in the state on Friday. With 36 of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal set to go to polls in five phases between May 7 and June 1, the Trinamool Congress, which has been in power in the state, immediately moved to reap the political advantage of the allegation by the woman. The party stated that the “sanctity of the Raj Bhavan” had been “tarnished”. Bose often made critical comments about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal. The TMC accused him of acting at the behest of the BJP.

The Kolkata Police constituted an inquiry team to probe into the woman's allegation against the governor, with a senior police officer stating that it was a regular practice to start an investigation after receiving a complaint, particularly from a woman.

“It is clear that in view of Article 361 (2) and (3) of the Constitution of India, the state police cannot act in any manner whatsoever to inquire/investigate/set in motion any kind of proceedings against the hon'ble governor,” the Raj Bhavan posted on X.

The Kolkata Police is also taking legal opinion about the constitutional immunity of the governor.

Three Raj Bhavan officials and a policeman posted at the governor's house were summoned by officers of Hare Street Police Station in connection with its investigation. "None of the Raj Bhavan officials turned up for enquiry, and only the policeman attended. We will request them to come to the Hare Street Police Station again on Monday,” said the police officer.