CCTV For Public, Not Cops: Bengal Governor After Sex Harassment Allegation

Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, in the backdrop of sexual harassment allegations against him, has declared that he would allow the public to see the video footage of the concerned day "but not Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or her police".

The Raj Bhavan handle today posted a statement titled "Sach ke Saamne Programme" that said the Governor has launched the programme to counter "mischievous and fabricated allegations by the police" that the Raj Bhavan is not sparing the footage.

The Governor has now decided that the footage will be placed in public domain and will be shown to the first 100 people who wish to see it. They will be given access to the footage at the Raj Bhavan. The people will be picked from among those who apply to see it on mail or through phone call, the statement added.

On May 2, a woman claiming to be a temporary staff member attached to the Peace Room in the Raj Bhavan, had approached the police post inside the Governor's House and accused Mr Bose of molesting her. In a statement, Mr Bose's office called it an "engineered narrative".

"If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal," the statement added.

The Raj Bhavan staff was told to ignore police queries, entry was refused to the police and the state finance minister and the police were not provided with CCTV footage of the day in question.

In today's statement, the Raj Bhavan said the matter is under "illegal and unconstitutional investigation of the police". Article 361 of the Constitution has granted to immunity to Governors and the President from criminal proceedings during their term in office.

Amid the general election, the matter has acquired political overtones with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hitting out at the Governor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.