The official is posted as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Bengal Governor.
According to the police, the OSD and two others were named in the FIR for allegedly stopping the woman from leaving Raj Bhavan by wrongfully restraining her on May 2.
After hearing the matter, a single bench of Justice Amrita Sinha said, “The evidence i.e. CCTV footage is already in the custody of the Investigating Officer (IO). The offence for which the petitioner is tried is of wrongful restraint and abetting an offence. It has been mentioned that the petitioner along with a few others tried to take her (the woman employee) back (to the Raj Bhavan) and also snatch her phone but she managed to escape from the room. Whether the ingredients disclosed in the complaint can be treated as wrongful restraint will be decided. At this stage, it does not appear that the probe will suffer in any manner if the same is temporarily stayed till June 17.”
The counsel for the petitioner stated that the complainant alleged that she was alone in the Governor’s chamber when she was allegedly sexually harassed and that in that event the petitioners “would have had no occasion to restrain her as they would not be aware of what transpired between her and the Governor”.
The counsel argued that there was no absolute restraint of the complainant which would be required to prove the charge as she was able to get out of the Raj Bhavan premises and file a police complaint.
Opposing the argument, Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta, appearing for the state, said that whether the allegations were improbable or not could be decided at an appropriate stage. He prayed that the probe be allowed to be conducted.
The court directed police to submit a report on the investigation done till date before it on June 10, when the matter will be heard again.
Reacting to the order, Governor Bose congratulated the staff and described it as the “triumph of truth over evil”.
“Raj Bhavan officials were first given bail by the Court (overruling the objections by the police) and now the vexatious investigation has been virtually stopped by the Court. Truth will triumph, though evil may appear to be making a victory dance in the beginning,” Bose wrote on X.
On May 2, the woman employee had filed a complaint where she had said that she works at the Raj Bhawan on a contractual basis, and stays in the staff quarters. In her complaint, the woman had stated: “On 19.4.24, Governor sir told me to take some time out and to meet him with my CV. On 24.04.2024, at around 12.45 pm, he called me to his office room and, after some discussion, touched me. I somehow managed to leave the office room. He called me once again today, 02.05.2024. I took my supervisor along with me to the conference room because I was scared. After talking for a while about work, he asked the supervisor to leave. He prolonged the conversation by talking about my promotion. He said he will call me at night and asked me not to tell anyone. When I refused, he tried to touch me. I protested and left.”
Following the complaint, Kolkata police had initiated a probe. However, owing to the immunity that the Governor enjoys under Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against Bose during his term in office.
— With PTI inputs