Bengal Governor, Trinamool Spar Over Anti-rape Aparajita Bill

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and the Trinamool Congress have locked horns over the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which the State Assembly passed on Tuesday in a special two-day session in the aftermath of the gruesome rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-owned RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The Governor has sought a technical report on the Bill,and dubbed the legislation a “political gimmick designed to hoodwink people”, observing that similar legislations from other States were pending with the President. Bose said the State Government was duty bound to send a technical report before a decision is taken on giving assent to the Bill.
The Trinamool Congress hit back at the Governor for his comment. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the Governor was showing “utter insensitivity towards the RG Kar rape and murder victim,” while Biman Banerjee, the Assembly Speaker urged the Governor “not to make politically motivated statements” “I will request the honourable Governor to please look into the Constitution and determine for himself whether the Bill passed by the West Bengal Assembly requires any further clarification,” he told reporters.

“The Governor criticised the State administration for failing to attach the technical report along with the ‘Aparajita Bill’. As per rule, it is mandatory for the State Government to send a technical report before a decision is taken on giving assent to a Bill,” a Raj Bhavan official briefed journalists late on Thursday.

“This is not the first time that the Government has withheld technical reports and blamed the Raj Bhavan for not clearing Bills,” he added.The Bill, which provides amendments to the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Adhiniyam and the POCSO Act, adding provisions of death penalty for different kinds of rape, was unanimously passed in the State Assembly on September 3. The legislation came more than three weeks after the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

“This is not the first time that the Government has withheld technical reports and blamed the Raj Bhavan for withholding Bills. The Raj Bhavan admonishes Nabanna for misleading people to cover up the lapses of the Government,” a Raj Bhavan source said. According to the source, the Governor has pointed out that the Bill “appears a copy paste” of the similar Bills passed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh legislatures. Knowing fully well that these Bills are pending with the President, Mamata Banerjee is “threatening dharna only to hoodwink the people of Bengal”, the source said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that her party leaders and supporters will hold demonstrations outside the Raj Bhavan if the Governor does not give consent to the Bill. Participating in the debate after tabling of the Bill, Banerjee had urged the Bharatiya Janata Party legislators to urge the Governor to give his assent.

“The Governor has expressed displeasure at such political gimmicks on such a sensitive issue ignoring the sentiments of the parents of the victim. The Governor has advised the Chief Minister ‘honesty is the best policy’,” the Raj Bhavan source said. Bose had on Thursday evening criticised the Mamata Banerjee administration for “failing to send” the technical report along with the Bill, which is necessary for giving assent to it.