Amid allegations of sexual harassment levelled by a woman employee, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said on May 8 that Raj Bhavan was willing to show CCTV footage to 100 people, except “politician” Mamata Banerjee and “her police”.
The response from Raj Bhavan came in the backdrop of Kolkata Police requesting the Raj Bhavan to share the CCTV footage related to the concerned incident. The Governor, however, had directed his staff not to cooperate with the police in this regard.
“Governor Bose has launched a programme ‘SACH KE SAAMNE’ in the background of the mischievous and fabricated allegations by the police that Raj Bhavan is not sparing the CCTV footage of an incident which is under the illegal and unconstitutional investigation of the police,” the Raj Bhavan said in a post on X handle.
The allegation against the Governor had surfaced on May 3 when a woman employee lodged a formal complaint with Kolkata Police alleging harassment by the Governor.
“Governor has decided that the CCTV footage can be seen by any citizen of West Bengal — except politician Mamata Banerjee and her police for the stand they had taken, which is in public domain,” the post on social media said
After the allegations were made public a political war of words erupted between the Governor and the Trinamool Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister.
The Governor had described the allegation as “absurd drama” and labelled Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s politics as “dirty”. The Chief Minister had said that her heart bleeds for the woman who has lodged a complaint with the police.
Article 361 of the Constitution grants immunity to the Governor against any criminal proceedings till he is in office. However, the question legal experts are raising is if the Governor can prevent Raj Bhavan staff from deposing before the police. The Kolkata Police has set up a special investigation team (SIT) comprising eight officers and had urged Raj Bhavan staff to depose before the police.
