Narada probe: TMC targets Dhankhar over prosecution sanction

Kolkata The role of governor Jagdeep Dhankhar came into question as West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) faced a new crisis on Monday following the arrest of two of its heavyweight ministers and a prominent legislator, with the former coming in for criticism from political circles and social media users

Kolkata The role of governor Jagdeep Dhankhar came into question as West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) faced a new crisis on Monday following the arrest of two of its heavyweight ministers and a prominent legislator, with the former coming in for criticism from political circles and social media users.

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On May 9, Raj Bhawan said in a statement that the governor had accorded prosecution sanction to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) against three TMC MLAs, Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, and former party leader Sovan Chatterjee. This authorised the agency to file the charge sheet against the four. On May 10, Mukherjee and Hakim were sworn in as ministers at Raj Bhawan. Mitra took oath at the assembly on May 6.

The statement issued by Raj Bhawan said: “Governor of West Bengal accorded sanction for prosecution in respect of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, for the reason that all of them at the relevant time of commission of crime were holding the position of ministers in the government of West Bengal.”

Dhankhar took oath as Bengal governor on July 30, 2019.

In 2014, Delhi-based journalist Mathew Samuel conducted a sting operation on about a dozen TMC leaders and an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The videos were made public before the Bengal assembly polls in 2016 and the CBI was asked to conduct a probe by the Calcutta high court and the Supreme Court in March 2017.

A controversy has broken out over the governor using the interregnum between two governments to accord his consent; in the normal course of events this consent would have been needed from the speaker of the assembly.

“The CBI has to seek sanction from the assembly speaker to file a charge sheet against a member of the House. It was not done. According to the Constitution, the speaker is always in office, even during the period when an old government is being replaced by a new one. The speaker’s office falls vacant only when a new speaker is elected. A bell is rung in the House to announce that the speaker is vacating his chair. This is clearly stated in Article 179 of the Constitution,” Bengal assembly speaker Biman Banerjee, who is also a senior lawyer, told HT on Monday evening.

“I do not know under which provision and with what intention the governor gave such a clearance to the CBI. I was completely bypassed. Moreover, this case is still pending at the Calcutta high court. The court asked the CBI during the last hearing if it sought sanction from the speaker for prosecuting sitting MLAs. The advocate general informed the court in writing that the CBI did not seek any sanction for filing the charge sheet. The agency bypassed the high court as well. The court did not ask the CBI to seek sanction from the governor,” said Banerjee.

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and noted lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said the TMC should not question Dhankhar for giving sanction for prosecuting the TMC ministers and MLAs as the probe was ordered by the court.

“Why is the TMC blaming the governor? This is a legal issue and the probe was ordered by the Calcutta high court and the Supreme Court. If the state government has a contention it is free to move the court. However, the governor is not playing his role as drafted in the Constitution. His recent activities and statements show that he is acting in a partisan manner,” said Bhattacharya who earlier served as advocate general of Tripura for five years.

While angry TMC workers staged an agitation and burnt effigies of the governor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi across Bengal, Dhankhar tweeted that the law and order situation in Bengal was deteriorating. TMC workers also staged a demonstration outside Raj Bhawan.

“Message @MamataOfficial “Total lawlessness & anarchy. Police and administration in silence mode. Hope you realize repercussions of such lawlessness and failure of constitutional mechanism. Time to reflect and contain this explosive situation that is worsening minute by minute,” he wrote.

“Invited attention @MamataOfficial “On channels and in public domain I notice arson and pelting of stones at CBI office. Pathetic that Kolkata Police @KolkataPolice and West Bengal Police @WBPolice are just onlookers. Appeal to you to act and restore law and order,” said another tweet.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “He came to Bengal as an agent of the BJP. It has been proved once again.”

Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu, however, said that the governor acted in accordance with law. “He is aware of the Constitutional provisions,” he said.

Dhankar’s office said he was not available for comments as he was busy in meetings.