Kolkata:

The Calcutta High Court on Friday stayed the police investigation against a Raj Bhavan officer in the case of the alleged wrongful restraint of a woman who accused Governor CV Ananda Bose of molestation.

Justice Amrita Sinha ordered a temporary stay on the investigation till June 17.

The court directed the police to submit a report on the investigation done to date before it on June 10, when the matter will be heard again.

Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sandeep Kumar Singh moved the high court praying for quashing the proceedings against him as well as the first information report.

According to the police, three officials, including the OSD, were named in the FIR for allegedly stopping the woman from leaving Raj Bhavan by wrongfully restraining her on May 2.

The woman had on May 2 alleged molestation by Mr Bose, following which the Kolkata Police started a probe.

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

Mr Singh and two other Raj Bhavan staffers, against whom the complaint was lodged, obtained anticipatory bail from the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court here on May 21.

His lawyer Rajdeep Majumdar claimed before the court of Justice Sinha that the allegations are improbable and no case could have been registered on its basis.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta, appearing for the state, opposed the prayer of the petitioner, submitting that there is no hurry to pass an order restraining the police from conducting its investigation into the complaint.

He prayed that the probe be allowed to be conducted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

In the backdrop of a woman employee of Raj Bhavan levelling molestation charges against him, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday showed CCTV footage of the premises of May 2 to common people.

Footage from two CCTV cameras at the main (north) gate from around 5.30 pm on May 2 was shown to a few people at the Central Marble Hall on the ground floor of Raj Bhavan.

A contractual employee of Raj Bhavan on Friday lodged a written complaint with the Kolkata Police alleging that she was molested by Mr Bose in the governor’s house on April 24 and May 2.

Mr Bose had on Wednesday said he would show the footage to common people, barring “politician” Mamata Banerjee and “her” police.

In the over hour-long footage, the woman, dressed in blue jeans and a top, was seen going to the police outpost, with a large number of policemen deployed on Raj Bhavan premises for the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi had stayed the night at Raj Bhavan on May 2, before addressing three political rallies in West Bengal on May 3.

A Raj Bhavan official said, “At least 92 people mailed or called us up, expressing their willingness to see the CCTV footage. However, only a few turned up. The intention was to let people judge the incident.”

One of the visitors, who identified himself as Professor Tushar Kanti Mukherjee, said he saw the footage and could not find any “abnormality” in the behaviour of the woman.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)