Kolkata: Citing clauses of Article 361 that extends a constitutional protection to the Governor from criminal proceedings during his tenure, the staff members of West Bengal Raj Bhavan were asked to refrain on Sunday from giving any statement to the police in the case of alleged sexual harassment against the Governor C V Ananda Bose.
The communication from the Governor to the Raj Bhavan staff read: “Since the Governor has been granted constitutional immunity from any criminal proceedings being instituted or continued against him, it logically follows that the police cannot investigate/inquire into the matter in any manner whatsoever. To say that the inquiry /investigation of the police could continue even during the tenure of the Governor though no court can take cognisance of the final report, would be in derogation of the objective and essence of Art.361 of the Constitution of India. Thus, in view of the immunity enjoyed by the Governor, the police are constitutionally barred from carrying out any kind of preliminary inquiry, registering a First Information Report. It is also reported that the investigating team intends to collect the CCTV footage from Raj Bhavan.” Further, the communication read: “It is therefore clear that in view of Art.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. In the circumstances all staff/ employees including part time, temporary, DRW or those engaged in Raj Bhavan in any manner are hereby directed to ignore any communication from the police in this respect and refrain from giving any statement online, offline, in person, over phone or in any other manner. This will take immediate effect.”
The move came a day after the Kolkata Police formed a special enquiry team (SET) comprising eight senior police officers to investigate the sexual harassment allegations levelled against Bose by a contractual woman employee at the Raj Bhavan. Police sources said that the special team led by Deputy Commissioner (Central) Indira Mukherjee has started making inquiries into the incident.
The Governor had described the allegations as “absurd drama” and said that none would be able to deter him from his “determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence”.
Three Raj Bhavan officials and a Kolkata Police personnel posted at the Governor House were summoned in connection to the molestation case by officers of Hare Street Police Station on Saturday. “None of the Raj Bhavan officials turned up for inquiry and only the policeman attended. We will request them to come to the Hare Street Police Station again on Monday,” a police officer had said on Saturday.