Bengal Governor seeks legal action against TMC for accusing him of ‘sheltering BJP’s criminals’

Sources in the Raj Bhavan said that the TMC MP has “committed offences” under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 151, 152, and 353.

While BNS section 151 makes it a crime to restrain the President of India or a Governor with the intent to prevent them from exercising their lawful power, section 152 deals with sedition, and section 353 addresses offences related to statements that lead to public mischief.

Reacting to the Governor’s plan to seek legal action against him, Banerjee, who is a lawyer by profession, said: “If he (Bose) initiates legal proceedings against me for uttering the truth, does he think I will sit idle? For around three years, we have shown him courtesy and respect. But he continues to lower the dignity of Raj Bhavan.”
The senior TMC leader accused the Governor of uttering falsehood and spreading lies “by parroting the doctored speeches and scripts of his political masters in Delhi”.

Banerjee was referring to the Governor’s remarks on Saturday, which he made a day after the BJP-led NDA swept the Bihar Assembly election that was held after the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Backing the SIR exercise, currently being conducted in West Bengal, which goes to polls early next year, the Governor stressed the urgent need for a change in the state’s electoral landscape.

Stating that SIR is necessary to clean up the election process, the Governor said, “Bihar has proved it.”
“In West Bengal, elections should be based on ballot, not bullet. That is a transition which is required urgently in the state,” he said to reporters in Raj Bhavan.

He said two major problems confronted West Bengal that need to be addressed effectively before the election. “One is violence and another is corruption… Any type of violence… should be curbed with an iron hand, and eradicating corruption is necessary to ensure a free and fair election,” he had said.

Soon after the Governor’s remarks, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee accused Bose of actively aiding “BJP’s criminals”. “First, tell the Governor not to shelter BJP’s criminals in Raj Bhavan. He is keeping offenders there, giving them guns and bombs, and telling them to attack Trinamool workers. Let him stop this first,” the MP said as he called Bose “incompetent Governor”.

“As long as this BJP’s servant of a Governor remains in the office, no good will happen in West Bengal,” he said.
Banerjee asserted that every time Bose utters a false statement targeting the TMC, the party will lodge an FIR against his utterances in each police station of the state.

“He may have the protection, but as a common man, we also have rights given by the Constitution to protest against falsehood, motivated campaigns, threats, and coercion,” Banerjee said.

Late on Saturday, the Raj Bhavan issued a statement, saying its gates would remain open from 5 am on Sunday for Banerjee, along with up to 100 members of civil society and media to visit and verify if any arms and ammunition are stocked as alleged.

The statement further warned that if the allegations were found to be incorrect, the MP would have the option to apologise to the people of Bengal or face prosecution for hate speech.

Expressing serious security concerns, the Governor’s office also called for an immediate inquiry into the Kolkata Police personnel who guard the Raj Bhavan. “It should be probed as to how, as alleged by the MP, they permitted arms and ammunition to be brought into the Raj Bhavan,” he said.

“Despite security advice to evacuate to a safe place until the inquiry was complete”, the Governor maintained, “I will be in Raj Bhavan, come what may.”

On Sunday, speaking to a news channel, the Governor, quoting William Shakespeare, said, “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said, “I informed them (Raj Bhavan) that there is a drunkyard in our state and it is him. So, they should ignore him.”

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, on the other hand, said, “I don’t want to comment on Kalyan Banerjee’s statement as he is a very senior leader and must have felt something which he said.”