Centre initiates action against top Bengal cops for 'maligning' Raj Bhavan ::::::: Vice Prez Jagdeep Dhankhar slams P Chidambaram for ‘part-timers’ remark on new criminal laws

Centre initiates action against top Bengal cops for 'maligning' Raj Bhavan

"Kolkata Police Commissioner and Indira Mukherjee formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with unusual speed and continued media briefings to create a false impression that the Governor could face criminal proceedings", the report said.

Governor CV Ananda Bose's report, submitted to the Centre, highlighted issues such as Kolkata Police officers preventing victims of post-poll violence from meeting him despite his permission.

The Union Home Ministry has initiated disciplinary action against Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and a DCP for allegedly maligning the office of the West Bengal Governor by promoting and spreading canards. 

The Union ministry action came after Governor C V Ananda Bose submitted a report to it regarding Goyal and Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner (DCP) Central, Indira Mukherjee, alleging that they were "functioning in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant".   

The Governor also accused other police officers, posted at the Raj Bhavan, of promoting and encouraging concocted allegations by a woman employee during April-May 2024, the official added.

"These IPS officers through their acts have not only tarnished the office of the Governor but also functioned in a manner which is completely unbecoming of a public servant. They have conveniently chosen to ignore the Conduct Rules," a source said. 

In his report, Bose mentioned Kolkata Police's alleged new practice of issuing identity cards to Raj Bhavan staff and frisking them upon entry and exit, despite objections from the Governor's office.

"Preventing a delegation of victims of violence from various parts of West Bengal, accompanied by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, from meeting Bose and subsequently detaining them is an affront to the Constitutional authority of the Governor," the official said.

The official noted that it was troubling that the victims had to move the court to meet the Governor.

Referring to the Kolkata Police's "total silence" on Bose's June 13 directive to remove the police contingent from Raj Bhavan, the official said, "it was seen as defying orders".

"Since mid-June, Kolkata Police posted at Raj Bhavan unilaterally set up a 'security mechanism' without the Governor's knowledge and consent, effectively placing the entire establishment under arrest and watch," he said.

Bose's report also mentioned that a preliminary internal inquiry found allegations of sexual molestation against him by a former Raj Bhavan employee to be part of a "pre-written script".

Vice Prez Jagdeep Dhankhar slams P Chidambaram for ‘part-timers’ remark on new criminal laws

 Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Saturday lashed out at Congress leader P Chidambaram over his comment that the three new criminal laws were "drafted by part-timers", terming it as "inexcusable" and urging him to withdraw his "derogatory, defamatory and insulting observation". 

“I was shocked beyond words when in the morning I read Chidambaram's interview to a leading national daily in which he said that the new laws were drafted by part-timers. Are we part-timers in the Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of the Parliament,” Dhankhar remarked at an event in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

Dhankhar further stated that he was left ‘stunned’ also because the senior Congressman is a former Union finance minister and a ‘Parliamentarian for long.'

The laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam (BAS) – came into effect on July 1, after being passed by the Parliament in December last year. These have been introduced to replace the British-era criminal laws.  "Are we part-timers in Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament... I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a narrative being set afloat and an MP being labelled as a part-timer.

"I appeal to him (Chidambaram) from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory, and highly insulting observation about the Members of Parliament (MPs). I hope he does," the Vice President said addressing the 12th convocation of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Thiruvananthapuram.

"When informed minds knowingly lead you astray, we need to be on guard," Mr Dhankhar further said.

"This morning, when I read a paper, an informed mind, who had been the Finance Minister of this country, a Parliamentarian for long, and currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, stunned me," the VP said.