The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the contours of Article 361 of the Constitution which grants 'blanket immunity' to Governors from any kind of criminal prosecution.
The top court's order came on a plea of contractual woman employee of West Bengal 'Raj Bhavan' who has alleged molestation by Governor C V Ananda Bose and her wrongful confinement by the officials there.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued a notice to the West Bengal Government on the plea of the woman and granted her liberty to make also the Central Government a party.
It also sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani in dealing with the constitutional issue.
At the outset, senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the woman whose name has been redacted from the judicial records, said, "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."
The plea said the immunity granted to the Governors under clause 2 of Article 361 cannot bar the investigation and moreover, the time is the essence in such probes.
"The petition raises the issue pertaining to the ambit of the protection which is afforded to the Governor under clause (2) of Article 361 of the Constitution," the bench said in its order of issuing notice to the State Government and others.
The Article deals with the protection of President and the Governors and its clause 2 reads, "No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President, or the Governor of a State, in any court during his term of office."
The woman petitioner has also sought directions to frame specific guidelines under which Governors enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution.
"This court has to decide whether a victim like the petitioner can be rendered remediless, with the only option being to wait for the accused to demit his office, which delay will then be inexplainable during the trial, and render the entire procedure a mere lip service, without any justice to the victim herein," the plea said.
