Supreme Court to examine ambit of immunity to Governors

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 19

Do governors enjoy “blanket immunity” from prosecution under Article 361(2) of the Constitution? Acting on a petition filed by a contractual woman employee of West Bengal Raj Bhavan, who accused West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose of molesting her, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the scope and ambit of the provision.

WB molestation row

A contractual woman staffer of West Bengal Raj Bhawan, who has accused Governor CV Ananda Bose of molesting her, challenged ‘blanket immunity’ to Governors under Article 361(2) of Constitution, saying it rendered her ‘remediless’

A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud issued a notice to the West Bengal Government on her plea and granted her liberty to also make the Union Government a party.

The Bench, which included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani in deciding the issue after senior advocate Shyam Divan pointed out on behalf of the woman the peculiar situation created by the immunity. “It cannot be that there is no investigation. Evidence has to be gathered right now. It cannot be deferred indefinitely till the Governor demits office.”