The Raj Bhavan of Kolkata launched an initiative ‘SACH KE SAAMNE’ in which the first 100 applicants were shown, this morning, a CCTV footage of an incident in which a non-permanent woman staff had alleged the molestation of her by Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose. In a social media post, Raj Bhavan said “Governor Bose has launched the initiative 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. Earlier, it had asked the people to send requests over email or phone to attend the programme at Raj Bhavan.
Governor has decided that the CCTV footage can be seen by any citizen of West Bengal – except Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her police for the stand they had taken, which is in the public domain,” the post read.
Mr. Bose had described the allegation as “absurd drama” and labelled the Chief Minister’s politics as “dirty”. Kolkata Police have constituted an inquiry team to probe the woman employee’s allegation of molestation by the Governor.
Raj Bhavan has made a complaint that police are illegally demanding the video as by the constitution of India no criminal proceeding can be initiated against the Governor of a State while in the office. The Governor enjoys constitutional immunity, it added.
Also, the Raj Bhavan of Kolkata has begun a procedure in which all the details of the non-permanent staff will be evaluated including their working time. There are 40 non-permanent staff at present inside Raj Bhavan Kolkata. Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose has also written a letter to the chief secretary of West Bengal to stop the investigation into the incident.
Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose has also barred the entry of any Minister of the State government into the premises of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, Barrackpore and Darjeeling.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
