Calcutta HC adjourns hearing in defamation suit filed by Guv against CM

Kolkata, July 15 (IANS) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, adjourned for the day the hearing in the defamation case filed by West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after initial submissions.

The single-judge bench of Justice Krishna Rao did not pass any interim order or direction in the matter. The next date of hearing in the matter is yet to be known.

During the hearing, the counsel for the Governor said that the comments made about the Governor were libellous in nature.

According to him, the comment that the women are scared to go to Raj Bhavan was also “hateful” in nature and the use of such words against the Governor was not desirable.

In his counter-argument, the counsel for the Chief Minister submitted that her comments about women being scared to go to Raj Bhavan was based on what she was told by some women and hence this cannot be libelous in nature. According to him, what the Chief Minister said was part of her freedom of speech.

The Governor’s counsel argued that since the oath-ceremony of newly elected legislators was part of an administrative activity, it is unjustified to link a different subject in the matter.

After those initial submissions, the hearing in the matter was adjourned for the day.

Besides the Chief Minister, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh and the two newly-elected ruling party legislators Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Sarkar have also been named in the suit.

Ghosh had been included as a party in view of some of his comments about the Governor made to a particular media house.

Similarly, the names of the two newly-elected MLAs have been included in view of the comments made by them about the Governor to media persons over their swearing-in function.

The defamation suit has been filed over some comments made by the Chief Minister recently while expressing displeasure over the confusion regarding the oath-taking ceremony of the two new MLAs.

She had backed their decision not to accept the Governor’s invitation to go to Raj Bhavan for the oath ceremony.

“Why will the two newly-elected MLAs go to the Raj Bhavan? As it is, after what has happened at Raj Bhavan, women are scared to go there. I have received complaints,” the Chief Minister had said.

On May 2, a contractual woman employee of the Raj Bhavan had made an allegation of molestation against Governor Bose, following which the Kolkata Police started an enquiry.

Under Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against a governor during his/her term in office.