NEW DELHI: For the first time,
Supreme Court
will test the constitutional validity of
immunity
from
criminal proceedings
accorded to the President and governors.
On Friday, it entertained the plea of an woman ex-employee of Kolkata Raj Bhavan who said the constitutional provision (Article 361) had prevented police from probing her charge of sexual harassment against Bengal
governor
C V Ananda Bose.
"How can police and courts be silent on a crime committed by a governor that violated the right to dignity, self-respect and safety of an employee guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Constitution
?" asked Shyam Divan, counsel for the woman, leading SC to peer into the issue.
SC asks woman's lawyer to make Centre party to plea against guv
Divan, counsel for the woman, said instead of inquiring into the serious 'incident', police have remained inactive because of the governor's immunity from criminal proceedings. "When a serious criminal offence is alleged, police machinery must move with alacrity to gather evidence, which otherwise may be obliterated with passage of time and the constitutional post holder may influence witnesses," he said.
A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice to West Bengal govt, sought assistance of attorney general R Venkataramani to adjudicate this complex constitutional question and asked Divan to make Centre a party to the petition where the woman said while she was left without remedy, the governor is giving statements ridiculing her and trashing her allegations as politically motivated.
It posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 361 of the Constitution provides, "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; and, no process for the arrest or imprisonment of the President, or the governor of a state, shall issue from any court during his term of office."
The petitioner, who has a masters in computer applications and was working in Raj Bhavan's EPABX department, through her advocate on record Udayaditya Banerjee said SC must decide whether the immunity conferred on the President and governors could be unfettered and absolute, a privilege that is conferred on none as all are governed by the rule of law.
"While a civil suit against the governor can be instituted after two months of a notice in writing is served on the governor, no such timeline is prescribed for criminal proceedings, which again renders the petitioner remediless," the petition said.
"The incident resulting in the present case arises out of two major instances that took place on April 24 and May 2 this year, when the Bengal governor called upon her on a false pretext of offering her a better job only to sexually harass her, within the premises of Raj Bhavan during working hours," the petition alleged.
Giving details of the alleged sexual harassment and molestation in the petition, she said while no action was taken by police to investigate her complaint, the governor has been giving statements to media terming her as a political tool.
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