The Trinamul Congress on Thursday accused Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of trying to shield alleged criminals through his tweets, demanding his removal from the post and asking Calcutta police to initiate criminal proceedings against the Raj Bhavan occupant.
At a news conference at Trinamul Bhavan, Kalyan Banerjee, the party’s Serampore MP and a lawyer, lambasted Dhankhar over some of his tweets on November 22 and 25.
“The honourable governor expressed his dissatisfaction by tweeting on November 22 regarding the arrest of Govind Agarwal and some chartered accountants,” Banerjee said.
Agarwal, who offers accounting services, was arrested by the city police in connection with a corruption case against an income-tax officer, soon after which Dhankhar tweeted about “alarming worrisome inputs from CA fraternity” and a “politically inspired operation”.
The governor’s tweets, however, made no mention of Agarwal who is not a CA.
“The governor is speaking on behalf of the accused and obstructing the investigation. Everyone knows he tweeted again on November 25…,” Banerjee said, naming another person who was arrested in a case involving fake Enforcement Directorate papers.
“Why is the governor speaking on behalf of these main accused? He is obstructing the work of the police, using his influence to save them,” added the MP.
The MP alleged Dhankhar was targeting chief minister Mamata Banerjee and trying to prevent the investigations.
“Those who obstruct criminal investigations can be prosecuted under Sections 186 and 189 of the Indian Penal Code. So, I will request Calcutta police to file a case against him for the way he is tweeting to intimidate the public servants and under these two Sections,” Kalyan Banerjee said.
“… no permission is required for this, against anyone who is doing illegal work in a government position,” he added.
Justice (retired) Chittatosh Mookerjee, a former Chief Justice of the Calcutta and Bombay high courts, said such proceedings cannot be initiated against Dhankhar while he is in office and cited Article 361(2) of the Constitution.
The Article states: “No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President, or the Governor of a State, in any court during his term of office.”