In a significant legal development, the Calcutta High Court has ordered a temporary stay on the police investigation against a Raj Bhavan officer accused of wrongfully restraining a woman in a high-profile molestation case involving Governor C V Ananda Bose. The interim stay, decreed by Justice Amrita Sinha, will hold until June 17.
The case centers around allegations made on May 2 by a woman accusing Governor Bose of molestation. Following her accusation, it was alleged that Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sandeep Kumar Singh and two other Raj Bhavan staffers prevented her from leaving the premises, leading to their inclusion in a First Information Report (FIR).
Reacting to the court’s decision, Governor Bose hailed it as a “triumph of truth over evil,” praising the judiciary for recognizing the supposed fallacies in the police’s approach. On social media platform X, he stated, “Raj Bhavan officials were first given bail by the Court, 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.”
Further complicating the case is the constitutional immunity granted to governors under Article 361, which exempts them from criminal proceedings during their tenure. This legal provision has not extended to the other accused officials, who secured anticipatory bail from a local court on May 21.
During the court proceedings, Singh’s attorney, Rajdeep Majumdar, argued that the allegations against his client were implausible and did not warrant the registration of a case. In contrast, Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the state, contended that there was no justification for delaying the police investigation and urged that it be allowed to proceed.
Also Read
The court has now directed the police to present a report detailing the investigations conducted so far by June 10, when the matter will be reviewed again.
