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SC agrees to hear plea challenging 'blanket immunity' to Bengal governor in alleged molestation case
SC agrees to hear plea challenging 'blanket immunity' to Bengal governor in alleged molestation case
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a petition challenging the 'blanket immunity' granted to West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose under Article 361.
The petition was moved by a woman staff member of the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata, who has accused Bose of molesting her on two separate occasions.
A bench of chief justice DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has also sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani in the case. The bench has also issued a notice to the West Bengal government.
In her plea, the woman has contended that the immunity granted to governors from criminal proceedings under Article 361 of the Constitution cannot bar investigation.
The petitioner has urged the court to clarify whether acts of sexual harassment and molestation can be considered part of the governor’s official duties, thereby entitling him to immunity under Article 361. It sought to highlight the potential injustice faced by victims, questioning if they must wait for the governor to leave office before seeking justice.
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“This court has to decide whether a victim like the petitioner can be rendered remediless, with the only option being to wait for the accused to demit his office, which delay will then be inexplainable during the trial, and render the entire procedure a mere lip service, without any justice to the victim herein,” the plea said.
The woman petitioner has argued that the immunity provided by Article 361 should not be absolute, particularly in cases involving illegal acts or violations of fundamental rights.
“Such powers cannot be understood to be absolute so as to enable the Hon’ble Governor to do acts which are illegal or which strike at the root of Part III of the Constitution. Moreover, the said immunity cannot impair the police’s powers to investigate the offence or even naming the perpetrator in the complaint/FIR, despite specific averments to that effect,” her plea said.
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The woman had on May 2 given a written complaint to the Hare Street police station alleging that the governor sexually harassed her on two separate occasions, first on March 24 and later on May 2, who summoned her to his chamber on the pretext of offering her a permanent job.
Following the complaint, Kolkata Police set up an enquiry team to probe into the allegations. Bose, however, directed the Raj Bhavan employees to ignore the police inquiry citing Article 361 of the Constitution.
Article 361 of the Constitution states that no criminal proceedings can be initiated against the President and the Governor of a state as long as they are in office.
