Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court on Friday stayed till June 17 the police investigation against the three Raj Bhavan staffers who were named in an FIR by police for alleged wrongful restraint of a woman who has accused governor C.V. Ananda Bose of harassment.

One of the three — officer on special duty (OSD) Sandeep Singh Rajput — had moved the court with an appeal to quash the FIR.

Justice Sinha directed the police to place a report on their investigation on June 10, the day the court reopens after a 15-day summer break.

Friday was the last day of the court before the summer recess.

The governor’s office issued a statement saying the high court order vindicated the stand taken by the members of the staff of Raj Bhavan, “who were deliberately victimised by fabricated police cases” against them.

“Hon’ble Governor congratulates the staff for their unity and solidarity among themselves,” the statement reads.

The OSD’s petition seeking quashing of the FIR was supposed to come up for hearing before Justice Jay Sengupta. As Justice Sengupta was not in the court during the day, Justice Sinha was assigned the case.

While delivering the interim order, Justice Sinha said she heard the case as it was the last court day before the vacation.

“Since the investigation into the case is at its preliminary stage, the court is issuing an interim stay,” Justice Sinha said.

Rajput’s lawyer Rajdeep Majumdar said his client had been falsely implicated in the case and his name was included five days after the complaint was lodged. The FIR was registered by the police suo motu 13 days after the woman lodged the initial complaint, Majumdar said.

“Moreover, he (Rajput) has obtained bail from a competent court. So the court should quash the ongoing investigation against him,” the lawyer said.

Bengal’s advocate-general Kishore Datta opposed the prayer and said a molestation victim had said the OSD had obstructed her when she tried to step out of Raj Bhavan so she could not tell anybody about what had happened.

If the investigation is stayed, Datta submitted, all witnesses in the case — who are all Raj Bhavan staffers — would be “won over”.

After hearing both sides, the judge issued an interim stay on the investigation into the FIR lodged against Rajput and two others, Raj Bhavan pantry staff member Kusum Chhetri and chaprasi (peon) Sant Lal.

“Whether the ingredients disclosed in the complaint can be treated as wrongful restraint and abetment will be decided. At this stage, it does not appear that the investigation will suffer in any manner if the same is temporarily stayed till June 17, 2024. The report of investigation that has been made till date be placed before the court on June 10, 2024,” Justice Sinha said.