Not good to see guv & CM fight in court, sort issues over tea: Cal HC
Times of India | 7 March 2025
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Thursday said it was "not a good example" to see Bengal's governor and chief minister lock horns in a court of law and said it would like the two parties to resolve their problems outside court over a cup of tea.
The court also extended an interim order, directing the state not to make any public statements against the governor till April 10.
The matter dates back to July 2023. Governor C V Ananda Bose had then moved HC against CM Mamata Banerjee — apart from MLAs Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar and former MP Kunal Ghosh — seeking Rs 11 crore in damages and court orders, asking the four to immediately retract their "personal imputation" against him made publicly. Bose had reacted to the CM's comment on "women fear to enter Raj Bhavan", alluding to allegations against him of molesting a Raj Bhavan staffer.
Later that month, the HC had restrained the CM, the two MLA and Ghosh from making "any defamatory or incorrect statement by way of publication and on social platforms" against the governor. The court said that Bose had made a prima facie case that unless given an interim restraint order, he "will further suffer irreparable loss and injury of his reputation."
The CM had challenged this order, arguing that "justifiable criticism" was not libel, and that the order curbed her fundamental right to free speech. She had argued that the HC order was passed in a pre-trial stage, and, as such, had "severe ramifications". It was a "gag order that had a chilling effect" on her freedom of speech and expression, she had argued.
On Thursday, Justice Krishna Rao, who was hearing the case, said: "Please settle the matter with a ‘chai pe charcha' outside court." He also fixed April 9 as the next date of hearing.
S N Mookherjee and Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, the two senior counsels for the CM, accepted the advice. But when Mookherjee requested the judge to put his advice on record, Rao decline. "I am giving you verbal advice. I will give written advice in future, if necessary," he said.
Senior counsel for the governor, Dhiraj Trivedi, sought some more time to file the affidavit on behalf of the petitioner who had filed a defamation suit against the CM, which elicited a sharp reply from the judge: "Are you serious about pursuing the case? Why are you then seeking more time?"
Trivedi submitted that he wanted to add some more materials to the affidavit before filing it. He also held that the case was not an original-side matter but an appellate-side matter.
Senior counsel Bandyopadhyay submitted that the governor enjoyed certain immunities and privileges under the Constitution. "But that does not mean that he can take steps against any citizen at will," Bandyopadhyay submitted.
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