West Bengal Governor on Monday said that it has sought a report from the office of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on actions taken by the state government against the Commissioner of Kolkata Police Vineet Kumar Goyal and the Deputy Commissioner (central division) of city police Indira Mukherjee on the basis of a report sent from his office.
The development surfaced when a slugfest has already erupted in West Bengal over the Governor’s recommendation to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs recommending disciplinary actions against Goyal and Mukherjee for pursuing a police complaint filed against the Governor by a woman temporary staffer of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata a couple of months back.
The Governor’s office said that upon the authority vested on the Governor under Article 167 of the Indian Constitution, the Chief Minister has been called upon to submit a report on the matter of “action taken against the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, on report sent by Hon’ble Governor to the Government of India and the Hon’ble Chief Minister.”
It also said that the office of the Governor has sought from the office of the Chief Minister a report on “CBI enquiry into the violent incidences of beating of a woman in public, public flogging of a couple and operations of ‘kangaroo courts’ with no effective action by police.
BJP leaders have welcomed the complaint by the Governor on the grounds that the duty of the officers is to follow the provisions of the Constitution and not go by the directions of the ruling party.
Leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress have pointed out that the city police has already clarified that the police investigation in the matter is not against anyone but on the merits of the complaint by the Raj Bhavan staff.