West Bengal Governor seeks legal opinion against TMC MP’s ‘arms’ remark; Kalyan Banerjee says ready for court battle

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Sunday said he sought legal opinion over TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's allegation of Raj Bhavan allowing stacking of arms and ammunition, prompting the lawmaker to say he is ready for a battle in court and cannot be intimidated.

On Saturday, hours after Bose said that the SIR of electoral rolls was essential to "clean up the election process", he drew a counterattack from Banerjee, who accused him of "sheltering BJP criminals" inside Raj Bhavan and "arming them with bombs and guns".

"The governor is seeking legal opinion against Banerjee for his comments on Saturday. The Raj Bhavan's doors have been kept open from 5 am and he is waiting for Banerjee to visit and inspect to gather evidence for the points he made," a Raj Bhavan official told PTI.

"Should he (Banerjee) fail to prove what he said, then why shouldn't a legal proceeding be initiated against him? The governor is also writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker to conduct an inquiry into the matter, since the TMC MP has made grave allegations," the official added.

The MP has committed offences punishable under various Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 151, 152 and 353, he said.

While Section 151 makes it a crime to restrain the President of India or a state governor with the intent to prevent them from exercising their lawful power, Section 152 deals with sedition. Section 353 addresses offences related to statements that lead to public mischief.

In response, Banerjee, who is a lawyer by profession, alleged that Bose is a BJP agent who has been regularly issuing anti-West Bengal and anti-people statements from Raj Bhavan.

"If he initiates legal proceedings against me for uttering the truth, does he think I will sit idle? For around three years, we (TMC) have shown him courtesy and respect. But he continues to lower the dignity of Raj Bhavan and the hallowed post by his act," Banerjee said.

The Raj Bhavan official said that Bose uttered a part of one of William Shakespeare's most famous verses from his tragedy, 'Macbeth', to express what he felt about the MP's comments -- "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing", an official said.

He said that the governor used the verse to describe someone who is "incriminatingly derogatory and invective".

The official said that the Raj Bhavan's doors are kept open for Banerjee, civil society members and journalists to carry out inspections in the wake of the TMC MP's allegations.

In the press conference, the senior TMC leader accused the governor of uttering falsehood and spreading lies "parroting the doctored speeches and scripts of his political masters in Delhi".

Banerjee asserted that every time Bose utters a false statement targeting the TMC, the party will lodge an FIR against his utterances in each police station of the state.

The MP charged the governor with misusing the protection given to gubernatorial posts as per the Supreme Court directives.

"He may have the protection but as common man, we also have rights given by the Constitution to protest against falsehood, motivated campaigns, threats and coercion,” Banerjee said.

Bose on Saturday had defended Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a process that was designed to remove discrepancies and restore public confidence in the electoral system, while maintaining that the Bihar elections demonstrated broad public acceptance of the mechanism.

“I am sure the people of Bengal will also accept it," he added.

Reacting to the governor's views, the TMC MP launched a sharp attack on Bose, alleging that the Raj Bhavan was being used to shelter "BJP offenders".

"First, tell the governor not to shelter BJP's criminals in Raj Bhavan. He (Bose) is keeping offenders there, giving them guns and bombs, and telling them to attack Trinamool workers. Let him stop this first," Banerjee alleged.

Further intensifying his criticism against Bose, Banerjee called the governor "incompetent" and alleged, "As long as this BJP's servant of a governor stays, no good will happen in West Bengal."