Governor Bose criticises CM Banerjee for failing to send a technical report on Aparajita bill

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 6 (ANI): West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose has criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for failing to send a technical report along with the Aparajita Bill passed by the State Assembly. As per rules, the government is duty bound to send a technical report before a decision is taken on giving assent to the bill.

The Raj Bhavan admonished Nabanna (State Secretariat) against allegedly misleading the people to cover up the lapses of the State government. “This is not the first time that the government has withheld technical reports and blames Raj Bhavan for withholding the bills,” a statement by Raj Bhavan said.

The Governor has taken swift action on the Aparajita Bill and admonished the Chief Minister. According to the statement, “The governor has pulled up the Chief Minister for failing to send the government’s technical report on the bill, which is mandatory under the rules. He has admonished the government and told them to do their homework in important matters like this.”

The Governor has reportedly also pointed out that the Bengal Bill appears to be a copy paste of the similar bills passed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Arunachal Pradesh, while claiming that the Chief Minister also knows that some of these bills are awaiting the assent of the President of India.

“Mamata Banerjee is threatening Dharna only to hoodwink the people of Bengal. Governor took strong objections to such inept gimmicks at such a critical juncture in Bengal’s contemporary history.” according to the statement.

Governor Bose has expressed his displeasure at such political gimmicks on such a sensitive issue and ignoring the sentiments of the parents of the victim. The governor has advised the Chief Minister that ‘honesty is the best policy’.

According to an official statement, Governor Bose commented, “This appears to be a government of half-wits run on half-truths.”.

Earlier on Thursday, Governor Bose heavily condemned the state government over the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and said that the law is there but it is not being implemented properly. Governor Bose also alleged that a portion of the police is criminalised and politicised.

He said, “Parents (of the victim) have told me certain things, which is very, very heartbreaking. They also gave to me in writing that I have taken up with the Home Minister. Within two days, we started seeing action. Their feelings we understand. What they want is also justice. The entire Bengal society seeks justice. Justice will be done.

Justice should be done. What I see in Bengal today, especially the administration, is going from wrong to wrong. They should realise two wrongs, even if they are mutually contradictory, will not constitute one right.”

On September 3, the West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, following the rape and murder of a doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata on August 9.

The Bill introduces the death penalty or life-long imprisonment for rape by amending the relevant sections in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the new penal code.