The Calcutta High Court is scheduled to hear an application for an interim order by West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose in a defamation suit he filed against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several other TMC leaders on July 15.
The West Bengal governor filed the defamation case against Mamata Banerjee on June 28, a day after she claimed that women had reported being afraid to visit the Raj Bhavan. On Wednesday, Justice Krishna Rao granted permission for the defamation plaint to be registered before his court. He directed that Bose’s application for an interim order—seeking a directive for Banerjee and the others to refrain from making further comments on the issue—will be heard on Monday.
Justice Rao also instructed Bose’s lawyer to serve copies of the application to the defendants in the suit in the interim. During an administrative meeting at the state secretariat on June 27, Banerjee had stated, “Women have informed me they are afraid to visit the Raj Bhavan due to recent incidents reported there.”
In response, the governor remarked that public representatives should avoid creating “erroneous and slanderous impressions.” On May 2, a contractual woman employee of the Raj Bhavan accused Bose of molestation, leading to an inquiry by the Kolkata Police. Under Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against a governor during his or her term in office.
