Calcutta:
Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, in the backdrop of sexual harassment allegations against him, has stated that he would show the public the video footage of the day in question “but not Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or her police”.
The Raj Bhavan Enforcement today posted a statement titled “Sach ke Saamne Programme”, saying that the Governor has launched the program to counter “mischievous and fabricated allegations by the police” that the Raj Bhavan is not sparing the footage .
The governor has now decided that the images will be placed in the public domain and shown to the first 100 people who want to see them. They will have access to the images in the Raj Bhavan. The people will be chosen from those who sign up to see it by mail or via phone call, the statement said.
On May 2, a woman claiming to be a casual staff member attached to the Peace Chamber at the Raj Bhavan had approached the police post at the Governor's House and accused Mr Bose of abusing her. In a statement, Bose's office called it a “technical story.”
“If anyone wants some election benefits by slandering me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,” the statement added.
Raj Bhavan staff were told to ignore police questions, police and the finance minister were denied entry, and police were denied CCTV footage of the day in question.
In today's statement, Raj Bhavan said the case falls under “illegal and unconstitutional investigation by police”. Article 361 of the Constitution grants governors and the president immunity from criminal prosecution while in office.
Amid the general elections, the matter has taken on political overtones with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attacking the Governor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.