Defamation case filed against TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee over 'arms stockpile in Raj Bhavan' remark

KOLKATA: Raj Bhavan on Tuesday filed a defamation case with the Calcutta High Court against the veteran Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee for making invective remarks against West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose aggravating the spat between the two for the past couple of days. It has not yet been confirmed whether the complaints have been treated as an FIR so far till tonight. The charges are so serious that it may sentence an accused to jail for maximum seven years. While reacting to Raj Bhavans move against him, Kalyan told TNIE tonight, I will also move the court tomorrow. The Governor acts like a BJP worker and with clearance from Amit Shah, he has filed cases against me. He wants to project me an extremist by giving so many cases under different Sections of the BNS. His move is false, motivated and vindictive, the ruling party MP said. Raj Bhavan sources claimed that the MPs remarks are not only political but also detrimental to national security. An officer on special duty (OSD) on behalf of the Raj Bhavan has filed a petition against the ruling party MP from Sreerampur constituency in the state under Sections 151, 152, 197, 196A and 196B, 353-1B and 353C, 353-2 under the BNS. Bose on Sunday had threatened to take legal action against Kalyan for his remarks he made on Saturday. The MP had made the remarks while reacting to Boses recent statement on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar claiming that the exercise helped purify voter list. As long as an incompetent governor like you remains, as long as a BJP-servant governor remains, you will never see anything good happening in West Bengal, Kalyan added. The Raj Bhavan, in an official statement, on Sunday had demanded an apology from Kalyan and called for an immediate inquiry into the matter, noting that the MPs allegations suggested a breach of Z-plus category security for the Governor. The faceoff between the Bose and Kalyan aggravated further on Monday after the former asked Kolkata Police (KP) seeking to deploy its bomb disposal squad with a sniffer dog, disaster management team and civil defence department to conduct search operations inside the Raj Bhavan premises to find out whether arms and ammunitions are lying stacked there. Kalyan further claimed that the Governor had been sheltering BJP goons and supplying them with arms and ammunitions to kill his party workers. Police officials and bomb disposal squad and CRPF men conducted combing operations inside the Raj Bhavan premises including every room, and other parts and lawns on Monday afternoon under the Governors physical supervision. Employees at Raj Bhavan were also asked to vacate their rooms so that search process could be done thoroughly. Nothing is found during the search. I will take legal action against Kalyan. Bengal has tradition of making wrong and fake allegations against Governor. But I have decided to take strong actions if fake allegations are made, Bose told reporters after the search operations ended today. Earlier in 2024, molestation charges brought against him by a woman employee at Raj Bhavan was proved false and baseless after an inquiry through a retired judge Poducherry.