Calcutta HC stays probe against governor’s OSD till June 17 in molestation case
The OSD, who was accused of trying to restrain the complainant after the alleged molestation took place in the governor’s chamber, was granted anticipatory bail on May 21
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered a stay till June 17 on the Kolkata police investigation against Sandeep Singh, an officer on special duty (OSD) to West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose, in the alleged molestation case lodged against the governor on May 2 on a complaint by a Raj Bhawan employee, city police officials said.
The OSD, who was accused of trying to restrain the complainant after the alleged molestation took place in the governor’s chamber, was granted anticipatory bail by Kolkata’s Bankshall court on May 21.
Citing a notice sent to him by the police, the OSD petitioned the Calcutta high court to seek quashing the first information report (FIR) lodged against him. His petition said the police complaint against him was filed on May 7, five days after the alleged molestation, and his name did not figure in the first complaint lodged at Hare Street police station on May 2.
After the hearing, justice Amrita Sinha said on Friday that the investigation was in its preliminary stage.
“The evidence i.e. CCTV footage are already in the custody of the investigating officer (IO). The offence for which the petitioner is tried is of wrongful restraint and abetting an offence. It has been mentioned that the petitioner along with a few others tried to take her (the alleged victim) back (to Raj Bhavan) and also snatch her phone but she managed to escape from the room. Whether the ingredients disclosed in the complaint can be treated as wrongful restraint will be decided. At this stage, it does not appear that the probe will suffer in any manner if the same is temporarily stayed till June 17,” justice Sinha said in the order, according to the legal news portal Bar and Bench.
Advocate general Kishore Datta opposed the OSD’s petition saying the police sent a summon notice because it had no intention to arrest him. Datta also countered the argument that Raj Bhawan staff cannot be probed because the governor enjoys immunity.
According to Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be initiated against the President and the governor of a state as long as they are in office. In view of this immunity granted to the governor, Kolkata police has not registered a case against Bose.
A young woman, who works at Kolkata’s Raj Bhawan as a temporary staff and lives at the staff quarters on campus, lodged a written complaint at the local Hare Street police station on May 2, five days before the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bengal.
She alleged that she was molested on March 24 and earlier that afternoon (May 2) by the governor who summoned her to his chamber on the pretext of offering her a permanent job.
The governor denied the charge hours after the allegation was levelled. “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal….,” the governor said in a statement on May 2.
On May 6, after returning from a short trip to Kerala, his home state, Bose called this a political conspiracy.
“Governor is an apolitical person. To the best of my conscience, I have tried to be above politics. I am very sorry that the chief minister has dragged me into politics, especially at a time when the elections are going on…..Mamata Banerjee’s politics is dirty,” Bose said on May 6.