Fresh Raj Bhavan-Bengal Secretariat tussle surfaces over appointment of state HRC member

Kolkata: A fresh tussle between the Bengal Raj Bhavan and state secretariat seems to be brewing over the appointment of a member of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC).

Sources said that from state secretariat a file was forwarded to the office of the Governor C.V. Ananda Bose for clearance regarding the appointment of retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and former West Bengal chief secretary Beside Bandopadhyay last Monday.

However, till date, the file has not been cleared from Raj Bhavan’s end.

The decision to appoint Bandopadhyay was cleared at a meeting at the state secretariat last month. The appointment became imperative following the end of the term of the erstwhile member Naparajit Mukhopadhyay, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and the former director general of state police.

Despite being invited, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari boycotted that meeting raising objections about Bandopadhyay’s appointment.

“Bandipadhyay is a blue eyed candidate of the Chief Minister. In fact after his retirement he was blessed with the post of state Chief Information Commissioner and now once again a plan is in place to rehabilitate him as a member of WBHRC,” LoP said.

Uncertainty over WBHRC appointment has added to the list of several areas of serious differences between the Governor House and the state secretariat especially on the issue of appointment of interim vice-chancellors for different state universities.

The recent attack on the ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has also sparked the Raj Bhavan-state secretariat rift further with the Governor saying that he will take actions as per constitutional provisions.