Mr Banerjee claimed that Jagdeep Dhankhar is acting “unconstitutionally” (File)
Kolkata:
Alleging that Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s tweets over the arrest of an accused in a corruption case amounted to “obstruction of justice”, a TMC MP on Thursday asked the Kolkata Police to contemplate filing a case against the constitutional head of the state.
Mr Dhankhar, who has been at loggerheads with the ruling party in Bengal over a host of issues since he took charge as the governor, said that it is part of an ongoing “vituperative campaign” to cover up monumental lapses.
Addressing a press meet at the party headquarters, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said, “The governor is speaking on behalf of the accused and obstructing the investigation. I will request the Kolkata Police to file a case against him for the way he is tweeting to intimidate the public servants.”
The governor had on November 22 claimed in a tweet that he has received “worrisome inputs” from the chartered accountant (CA) fraternity over the arrest of a person, who is reportedly the owner of a CA firm, by the Kolkata Police.
Mr Banerjee claimed that Mr Dhankhar is acting “unconstitutionally” and demanded that he be removed from the post of governor immediately.
“No permission is required for this. (It holds true) for anyone who is doing illegal work in a government position,” the TMC MP insisted.
In a statement issued following the press conference, Mr Dhankhar said that it was a strategy by the ruling party to brush aside burning issues.
He further said that as far as the governor’s role is concerned “the reflections are wide off the mark, betraying ignorance of elementary constitutional and legal aspects and factually untenable”.
“I would continue to discharge vigorously my constitutional obligations, undeterred by any diversionary strategic moves,” the governor said.
Maintaining that he cannot help if someone cannot understand his tweet, Mr Dhankhar said, “I rubbish any assertion made that indicates otherwise than my commitment to accountability and transparency.”
Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ashok Ganguly (retired), when approached, said that as per the provisions provided in the Constitution, the governor of a state cannot be prosecuted during his term in office.