West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (L) and Governor C V Ananda Bose (R).
Credit: PTI Photos
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday passed an interim order restraining West Bengal chief minister and the Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, from making any defamatory or incorrect statement against the state’s Governor C V Ananda Bose till it takes up the matter again on August 14 next.
The state BJP heavyweight and Leader of the Opposition in the legislative assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, welcomed the interim order of the Calcutta High Court. The TMC’s Lok Sabha MP, Mahua Moitra, however, criticised the governor on X, just hours after the High Court passed the interim order.
The TMC in the past accused the governor of acting at the behest of the BJP.
“If at this stage, an interim order is not granted it would give the free hands to the defendants to continue making defamatory statements against the plaintiff and continue to tarnish the reputation of the plaintiff,” Justice Krishna Rao of the Calcutta High Court observed.
Bose had filed a defamation suit against Banerjee, two newly elected TMC MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar, and party leader Kunal Ghosh. He had also urged the court for an interim order. The hearing on his plea for an interim order concluded on Monday but the court had reserved the order.
The governor, being a Constitutional Authority, “cannot meet the personal attacks being made by the defendants against him by taking the benefit of social media platform”, Justice Rao observed in his interim order issued on Tuesday.
Banerjee had made some comments about Bose during the stalemate over the swearing-in of Sayantika and Reyat as the members of the state legislative assembly.
The court restrained the chief minister from “making any defamatory or incorrect statement against the plaintiff (Bose) by way of publication and on social platforms till August 14, 2024.”
The court directed Banerjee and the three others to file their affidavit in opposition within two weeks and reply by Bose to these within one week thereafter.
“How shameful that a chief minister has to be censured as she doesn't know what to speak!” Adhikari posted on X.
“Unbelievable. Governor will molest & sexually harass women in Raj Bhavan premises, claim constitutional immunity & (and) state CM is told to not comment on it!! Sorry, we celebrate Samvidhan Diwas every day & (and) we’ll keep speaking out,” Moitra posted on X.
A woman – a contractual employee of the Raj Bhavan – had on May 2 accused the governor of molesting her. Bose had dismissed the allegation as concocted and aimed at maligning him.
Article 361 (2) and (3) of the Constitution give constitutional immunity to the President of India and the governor of any state from any criminal proceeding being instituted or continued against them.