PIL seeking removal of Dhankhar from Guv post filed in HC

Kolkata: After the state government had decided to pass a resolution for removing Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of Governor, a PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday praying for a similar direction to the Central government. The petitioner claimed that Dhankhar should be removed from the Governor post as he was acting as the mouthpiece of the BJP.

The petition, filed by advocate, Rama Prasad Sarkar, is expected to be heard on February 11. The plea claimed that the Governor was not carrying out his role according to the Constitution and was also hindering in the development work of the state.

The PIL was filed a week after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar from her Twitter account accusing him of tapping phones and threatening officers on several occasions. "I apologise for it in advance. He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) tweets something every day abusing me or my officers. Unconstitutional, unethical things, he says. He instructs and advises. Elected government has become bonded labour. That's why I have blocked him from my Twitter account. I was getting irritated every day," Banerjee said at a press conference on last Monday. Pointing out that phones are being randomly tapped, the Trinamool Congress supremo compared the crisis with the Pegasus spyware controversy. "Why has the PM not removed him [Governor]? Pegasus is being done from the Raj Bhavan," she said.

Soon after the Chief Minister's announcement of blocking Dhankhar from her twitter account, the Governor took to his twitter and wrote: "Mandated under Article 159 of the Constitution to ensure none in the state "blocks" Constitutional Norms and Rules of Law and those in authority "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India".