(l). 12th Posting - Rajbhawan, Calcutta

History: Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the Governor of West Bengal, located in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Built in 1803, it was known as Government House during the Company rule in India and the British Raj. It was designed by Capt. Charles Wyatt on the lines of Kedleston Hall, seat of the Curzon family in Derbyshire. The building follows a neoclassical style with distinct Baroque overtones. In 1860s, Viceroy James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin added the metallic Dome.  Lord Curzon brought electricity and lift (popularly known as the ‘Bird Cage Lift') to Raj Bhavan. 

After the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown in 1858, it became the official residence of the Viceroy of India, moving here from the Belvedere Estate in 1892. With the shifting of the Indian capital from then Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, it became the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Since Indian independence in August 1947, it has served as the official residence of the Governor of West Bengal and is known as the Raj Bhavan, a name it shares with the official residences of other states' governors. (Wikipedia). 

Layout & Get-up: Built over an area of eighty-four thousand sq. ft.  the three-storeyed Raj Bhavan building has a huge central area consisting of large halls having curved corridors on all four sides radiating to detached wings, each constituting a house in itself. Including public halls, there are about 60 rooms in the building. 

The architectural plan comprises a central core with four radiating wings. The state rooms located in the central core are accessed from the outside by a flight of grand steps on the north. On the south is another portico surmounted by a colonnaded verandah with a dome above. The four wings accommodate the various offices and residential quarters along with four sets of staircases. The plan of the wings allows for a great deal of natural ventilation in the spaces while also permitting views across the gardens. The wings are decorated with large coats of arms.

The Raj Bhavan has six gateways, one each on the north and south and two each on the east and west. The four gates on the east and west have grand archways topped with lions, while the minor archways on the side have sphinxes on the top. Two mounted policemen remain on attention in the South Gate round the clock when a VVIP stays in Rajbhawan. 

The massive and illustrious building of Rajbhawan is best seen from the North Gate, which serves as the main gate. The main entrance to the building, formed by six ionic pillars supporting a pediment, is approached by a long walk past a decorated Chinese cannon presented by Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough.

The Chinese cannon, mounted on a dragon and flanked with minor cannons, was brought from Nanking in 1842 after the First Opium War. An inscription on a marble plaque reads "The peace dictated to the Emperor of China under the walls of Nanking by the military force of England and of India"

A little off from these cannon site, a series of expansive grand stairs lead directly to the second floor in the central area of the building. The Governor-designate enters Rajbhawan for the first time through these stairs and it is here he is recieved on behalf of the Rajbhawan 

Allocation  of residential area:  A part of the second floor of Rajbhawan is reserved for the residence of the Governor and his family. A section of the first and some parts of the the second floor contain well-furnished suites for hosting national and international guests. It has an exclusive suite called "Prince of Wales", on the north-western part of the first floor, primarily for accommodating the President, the Prime Minister, and the Deputy Prime Minister of India when they visit this state. Heads of other countries or international guests of similar status are hosted in this suite. Besides, there are three other different suites named "Dufferin," "Wellesley," and "Anderson." The Wellesley Suite is on the second floor in the northeastern wing, the Dufferin Suite is on the second floor of the northwest wing (just above the Pronce of Wales suite) , and the fourth suite is the Anderson Suite.  The President of India, Ramaswamy Venkatraman and his wife, Prime Minister Viswanath Singh and his wife Sitadevi  (they did not halt for the night), Prime Minister Chandrasekhar  & Hon'ble Nelson Mandela had stayed in the Prince of Wales Suite during my tenure in Rajbhawan. The Central Ministers, other dignitaries declared as state guests and the Governor's guests are all accommodated in the three other suites as are available. 

Mr. TV Rajeswar, during his tenure as the Governor, had changed the names of these suites by the great rivers of India viz, Ganga, Brahmaputra etc. Prof. Nurul Hasan, his successor on the assumption of charge of the Governor, had these reverted to old names to maintain historical legacy. 

Chambers and Offices: The Governor's Office Chamber, Office Chamber of the PS to Governor, Office Chamber of the Secretary and Governor's  Office occupy a compact area on the first floor.  The Chamber and the office of the DSG are situated on the ground floor at the north-eastern corner of the Marble Hall.

Drawing rooms & Other purpose rooms: There are three drawing rooms in Rajbhawan. These are named after  colours viz., Blue, Brown and Yellow.  Yellow drawing room is the biggest. Though designated as a drawing room, it is, in fact, a big hall. It's walls are decorated with amazing art works. The State Reception on the Independence Day is held here. When there is a swearing-in ceremony in the adjacent Throne Room, the guests are entertained with tea and snacks in this room. The Governor usually meets his visitors in the Blue Drawing room. Small functions with selective audiences are also held here, at times. The noted Sitarist Bimal Chandra Mukherjee, an IAS Officer of the 1950s performed in this room at the Governor's invitation on the eve of the retirement of the then Chief Secretary, Mr. Tarun Dutta. It happened during my tenure in Rajbhawan. The brown drawing room adjacent to the Blue Drawing room is used for small meetings or conferences. I remember the Governor held a high-level meeting in this room in the early 1990s with the Mayor of London where the Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu and Land Revenue Minister, Binoy Choudhury were present. 

There is a museum adorned with antiques, the relics of Rajbhawan, and also a few modern artworks on the second floor.  In another room on that floor,  a stock of two truck-loads of personal books of the Governor,  Prof. Nurul Hasan, was stored.

Raj Bhavan Library is in the South-east corner of the Ground floor. It is modest in size but holds "niches of surprise, volumes and papers that reflect a certain grace-in-age." It has been a special privilege to restore from the dust of neglect several books that belonged to the Governors of the days bygone who had contributed those to Rajbhawan Library or had 'left behind'. These books often bear the signatures and inscriptions of the Governors. They shed light on the Governors' range of reading interests and concerns and the diversity of the visitors who brought some of these books as gifts. (Source: Rajbhawan website). The then Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi had brought about a great deal of improvement in the library. 

Halls & Dinning rooms: The halls and the dining rooms of Rajbhawan go by various names like the Throne Room, Council Chamber, Marble Hall and Banquet Hall. Let me give some idea about these halls and their purposes. The throne Room houses the thrones of Richard Hadley and Tipu Sultan on a raised platform.  It features oil paintings of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy hanging on its walls. There is also a pot used in carrying the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi preserved here. This room is adjacent to the Yellow Drawing Room.  The Governor and the Ministers take their oaths of office in this room. However, once during my tenure, the swearing-in ceremony of the Council of Ministers was held in a samiana set up on the Rajbhawan lawn. 

The Council Chamber is on the on the north-eastern corner of the first floor. The Governor General used the Council Chamber to preside over the executive and later the Legislative Council. Currently, it is used by the Governor of West Bengal to conduct large meetings. I don't remember to have seen the Governor holding any meeting in this chamber during my tenure here.  There is a billiard room and a small dining room known as the Bharat Ratna room just outside the Council Chamber. The Billiard  room has an old-time Billiard Board and Pool balls, Cue sticks, Rack triangles, and Pool chalk to play on it.  

The Banquet Hall  The hall is adorned with rows of Doric pillars on each side and beautiful flowering chandeliers hanging down the middle, creating a stunning view. The banquet table is arranged with black mahogany tables placed along the centre of the hall. Many eminent personalities, including Queen Elizabeth, have been entertained here since the British Raj. During my tenure at Rajbhawan, we arranged dinner parties thrown by the Governor in honor of personalities such as Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, and the Mayor of London in this Hall.

Marble Hall is on the ground floor. Many govt and non-government organisations hold functions here with prior permission. Often, the Governor preside over these functions. Marble busts of Twelve Caesars adorn the east and the west aisles of the Marble Hall

As for the maintenance and construction work in Rajbhawan, there were one Executive Engineer and two Assistant Engineers (Civil & Electrical) with separate offices. These officers were under the administrative control of the Public Works Department of the Govt. of West Bengal.

There was a Garden Superintendent for the upkeep of the garden inside Rajbhawan. The garden superintendent was an official from the Forest Department. 

Rajbhawan had a printing press for printing urgent and confidential matters. Governor's daily programme and , programmes of visiting national VVIPs also used to be printed here. 

A full-time Resident Physician remained posted in Rajbhawan to look after  Governor's health needs. The renowned Homeopath Dr Baidyanath Chakrabarti, deceased, was an honorary physician to the Governor. He used to attend to Rajbhawan officials, too, free of cost on certain specific dates.

Prof. Hasan, the Governor, did not keep good health and was under regular medical attendance. The Resident Physician usually attended to him. But when needed, Senior Govt. Medical Officers and Specialists also attended to him. Besides, he visited the USA at least once a year for treatment. On a few occasions, he fell sick on the way back from tours needing him to rush to the hospital straight from the airport.

All the senior officers, the AsDC, and the household staff had quarters in the Rajbhawan Complex. The quarters of the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary were in duplex-type bungalows. The one meant for the Deputy Secretary had developed cracks on the walls and the ceiling over the years and needed extensive repairs. I did not occupy it. I stayed in a flat in a nearby government residential complex and preferred not to change it. The Governor had permitted me to continue from the residence I had hitherto been living. It was mandatory for the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary to stay in their earmarked official quarters in Rajbhawan.

Every official of Rajbhawan had Telephones installed at his office and residence. Every room and service point in the Rajbhawan complex remained connected by telephone. There was a well-maintained network of extension lines to accomplish this. Rajbhawan’s own operators used to serve this large number of extension telephones through a manual PBX board. I got the manual PBX replaced by an Electronic Board at the cost of ₹ 5 Lakhs. The changeover increased the efficiency of the communication system to and from Rajbhawan and reduced the workload on the operators. A supervisor of the Calcutta Telephones remained posted at Rajbhawan to oversee the maintenance of the telephone systems in Rajbhawan.

As Deputy Secretary to the Governor, I was in charge of the Governor's household. All resources of the Governor's house in men and materials (excluding staff and officials of the Governor's Secretariat)  were at my disposal, subject to the overall superintendence of the Secretary. I had to look after the welfare of the Governor and his guests and arrange for the accommodation of the VVIPs and the Governor's guests in Rajbhawan. It fell in my duty to oversee arrangements for parties hosted by the Governor in honour of the visiting dignitaries or the local who's who. I had to finalise the seating arrangements for such dinner and lunch parties, according to protocol, subject to the approval of the Governor. I had to prepare the guest list and the menu on the advice of the Governor and get the acknowledgements of the invitations sent. My responsibility included making the arrangements for tours of the Governor and his party by plane, train, or helicopter within or outside the State or the Country. I had to accompany the Governor sometimes during his official tours in the absence of the Secretary. 

I was also responsible for organising Governor's Camps at Darjeeling and the movement of all men and materials there. 

I was the administrative head of the office of DSG and had to discharge all administrative functions as such head. 

As the Director of Hospitality, I had to look after the State Guests accommodated in Rajbhawan. I also remained associated with the arrangements for the State functions, e.g., swearing-in ceremonies of the Ministers and the Governor at Raj Bhawan, as also the State Receptions on Independence Day and Republic Day. Invitations for Independence  Day and Republic Day Receptions went in the name of the Governor and his wife. The Governor and his wife or official hostess (where Governor had no wife) personally met the guests on these occasions and chit-chatted with them. The Chief Minister also invariably attended these state functions. These were the occasions for the participants, the senior civil and military officers and citizens representing various sections of society to have mutual interactions. We would provide tea, coffee, sweets, and snacks in a buffet layout during the reception. At the beginning and end of the reception, an Army Band played the National Anthem. The Freedom fighters were, in particular, invited to Independence Day Receptions. The household office of the Governor organized these receptions under the supervision of the Deputy Secretary to the Governor. The Calcutta Police controlled the entry, exit, and traffic in and out of Rajbhawan. They also regulated the parking of cars inside the Rajbhawan complex. 

As the Comptroller of the Governor’s Household, I was responsible for accounting the expenses in the Household of the Governor. I had also to remain associated with the audit of the expenditure incurred under the Governors’ (Emoluments, Allowances, and Privileges) Act 1982 and the rules made thereunder. The expenditures of the Household office were charged directly to the consolidated fund and did not require prior approval of the legislature. An officer of the rank of Deputy Accountant General supervised the audit of the expenditure in the Governor's household. 

There were unwarranted and unwelcome repercussions to changes I had brought about to streamline administration in the Governor's household matters.

As the Deputy Secretary in charge of the Governor’s Household, I made some changes in the management of its affairs to remove anomalies and irregularities and put some procedural requirements in place to enforce financial regulations and increase efficiency. In the process, I also discontinued certain age-old practices, which were at variance with the financial rules and regulations of the government. I need not go into the specifics and the details. As it appeared from later developments, these steps had made some people in positions in Rajbhawan unhappy and had, if my assessment was not largely incorrect, acted as the root cause for several deplorable incidents later, culminating in a couple of criminal acts. I have described these acts and incidents in detail in later paragraphs. 

Keeping in view the high esteem in which the public holds the institution of the Governor, I had played down those incidents at the time of their happenings, declining to give interviews to the newspaper reporters, some of whom had approached me after the incidents. I shall, however, be guilty of suppressing the truth if I exclude these reprehensible episodes caused by people working with the Head of a State from my life story. I have, therefore, included a vivid description of those deplorable incidents towards the end of this chapter. Before I go there, I must make it known that there was no action against the offender (s) from any end despite people at the top echelon of the state administration being fully aware of the matters. I had to go on leave in an unusual situation and had joined a new assignment on the expiry of that leave. The proposal for my posting out of Rajbhawan was, however, under consideration by the government for some time earlier to incidents in Rajbhawan. 

I may also add that I was to go on leave for 57 days from Jan 4, 1992 (much before the incidents referred to above had happened) but had to postpone it at the last minute at the request of the Secretary and the desire of the Governor in consideration of inconveniences it was likely to cause to Rajbhawan administration. Copies of my petition for that leave and its accompanying official endorsements are placed on Appendix Page as the last item under Rajbhawan Affairs.

I was not happy with the working environment in Rajbhawan at that time with the then Secretary (who I had found incapable of taking a correct stand if he had a reason to believe that would displease the Governor) at the helm of affairs. I had decided to go on leave with the intent of not returning to the post. But I could not disoblige the Governor and had to postpone availing of it at the last moment at his desire, especially since leave is not a matter of right.

In that Darjeeling tour of 1991, I had taken my family along. We flew from Calcutta by a Govt. helicopter on its trial flight for taking the Governor3 from Bagdogra the next day. We took off from Barrackpore airstrip and landed near Mel in Darjeeling, with stopovers at Malda and Bagdogra. 

During the 1991 Darjeeling tour, we once visited the nearby tourist spot at Mirik. Before that year's summer camp ended, a pleasure trip for the Rajbhawan personnel and their families from Darjeeling to Batasia loop4 by toy train was arranged as desired by the Governor. Governor himself had also accompanied. We had the entire train at our disposal. Here are snapshots of some memorable moments of our May 1991 summer trip to Darjeeling.

The Governor was in Delhi at the time my mother died. He sent a condolence message from there. Governor's sister "Baji" attended mother's Shradh ceremony held  12 days after her death, in my flat at the Minto Park Govt. Housing Estate, where I had been living then.

There were differences within the family over the venue for holding my mother’s Sradh. My brother proposed to do it at his place in Silchar, and asked me to join him there. But mother had died at my place in Calcutta and was cremated in Nimtalaghat crematorium here. The Poll-bearers were from amongst my wife's relations, my friends, and office staff. My place was, therefore, the right place to hold her Sradh, where as per custom, I could entertain the poll bearers and others who had accompanied the body. There was no way I could overlook it. I could not thus agree to my brother’s proposal. My brother had tried to convince me through a friend of his who was close to the family. But I had my reasons to stick to my position.  

Finally, the Sradh was held at both the places. My relations, all based in Assam, had, at their convenience, attended the ceremony at brother's place.

During my tenure in Rajbhawan, President R. Venkataraman visited Calcutta more than once. There used to be a large entourage that comprised his family members and the officials of the President’s office. Once, the President visited Darjeeling when Governor was camping there. Executive Engineer, Rajbhawan, who did not usually stay in Darjeeling during Governor’s camp, had to be called specially, in connection with the President’s visit. The gentleman had been in trouble finding a particular type of bathroom flash Mrs Venkataraman had wanted in the bathroom she was using in Rajbhawan. That had put the Executive Engineer in a fix, as he could not find that flash locally. However, he ultimately managed to procure one, and saved the situation.

Once in 1991, Sri T. N. Seshan, the then Chief Election Commissioner of India, was staying in Rajbhawan while visiting the State. A group of celebrities led by the noted film actor-director, Ms Aparna Sen, was waiting in the Yellow Drawing room5 of Rajbhawan to meet Mr Seshan  on matters relating to the upcoming election. Mr Seshan was with the Governor. Suddenly, the lights went off. This was a singular instance of power failure in Rajbhawan during my two years' here. Rajbhawan used to be fed electricity by three separate grids of transmission. If there were a failure in any of the grids, one or the other of the other two grids took over. The need for any captive generator was, therefore, not felt. Unfortunately, all three grids failed at a time on that particular occasion. That power failure lasted for about half an hour. Ms Aparna Sen started feeling unwell and was taken outside in the open air.

Later, when I was escorting Mr Seshan to his room in Rajbhawan, he asked me if there was no generator in Rajbhawan. I apprised him of the factual position. After that incident, Govt. decided to install two high-capacity captive generators. These generators were in place before I had left.

I found it exasperating to deal with the Aides-De-Camp to the Governor in Rajbhawan. It was because of the Secretary, the officer to control them, failing to exert himself. Being the closest to the Governor and remaining, as it were, in his shadow, these Aides-de-Camp felt that they were under no one’s control and could do whatever they wanted, disregarding established rules and procedures. As I started enforcing the rules and regulations and putting in place the procedural requirements, the AsDC felt the heat. They then started creating problems, one after another, sometimes leading almost to a crisis. The situation worsened after a new officer from the Navy joined. This Navy Officer was rude and indecent in behaviour. His attitude and behaviour created bad blood in the official circles. These AsDC started demanding privileges not allowable under the rules. Starting from a demand for separate typists for them (to which no officer was entitled) and time-to-time inspection of their residences by the household staff for proper up-keep, one of them even went to the extent of refusing to submit vouchers for expenditure incurred by him out of the cash provided as advance, for use in exigencies during the Governor’s tour. Another of them wanted that the officials of the DSG’s office should take orders directly from him in utter disregard to the administrative rules and regulations (AsDC were, as such, holding ornamental posts and was no part of the office administration). These facts were, from time to time, brought to the knowledge of the Secretary, who was the administrative head of the Governor’s establishment as a whole, besides being the controlling officer of the Aides-de-camp (AsDC). The Secretary to the Governor failed to take appropriate action to bring home to the AsDC that they would have to work according to the established rules and regulations and could not do as they wished. With no deterrent action, the AsDC became bolder and went beyond all norms of civility in their actions and behaviour. 

On the 3rd January 1992, the Army ADC threatened and intimidated a Section Officer of the Household office, Nirmal Chatterjee, in his office chamber during office hours for rightly refusing to take orders directly from him. It created a crisis, with the staff threatening to go on strike. This incident also came as a news item in the Telegraph on the 5th of January, 1992. There was no action against the ADC even after this.

I had worked with senior officers of the Army of the rank of Major much earlier in my service life. They were quiet, decent, accommodative, and likable personalities. I could never think that junior officers of the service could behave in the manner they did in Rajbhawan. The indulgence they had and the leniency they were treated with here might have prompted these young officers of the Defence Services to act in the way they did. 

While appreciating the hard way they live in the field and the sacrifices they make for the country, I am constrained to observe that they, at least the two working at that time, lacked the training to conduct themselves in a civil administration. I had previously worked with their predecessors in office and had found them more mature with better understanding. 

In the absence of any action by the higher authorities against the delinquent ADC for hurling threats at an officer within the office building during office hours (January 3, 1992), these AsDC became encouraged to be more aggressive. Finally, the Navy ADC lost all his balance and, taking advantage of the Governor’s absence from the headquarters, transgressed to my residence to settle scores with me at the individual level on the nights of the 22nd and the 23rd of January  1992 in a row. On the 22nd night, he came at around 11 PM in a fully drunken state and pushed the buzzer of my flat persistently. As I opened the door, he started shouting at me, hurling all sorts of abuses, including American Slang. He was, at the same time, pounding on my open door with all his might. He tried to implicate me in a false allegation that the office did not allot a Rajbhawan car for an emergency involving his pregnant wife under my order . I was dumbfounded; I didn’t know anything about it. I told him I had no knowledge of things he was saying. He was not in a state to see reasons. He continued abusing me and left at around 11:15 PM, saying he didn’t care what happened to me, but he would  see me. At the uproar created by the ADC at my doorstep, residents of other flats in the building, including some senior IPS officers, came out of their respective flats. He thus disturbed the peace and tranquility not only of my family but also of a good number of my coresidents for which, too, he was answerable.

Even if the concocted story of the ADC involving his wife were true, the ADC would not have been within his right to take his wrath to the residence of any officer, senior or junior. If the matter had been as he had stated, the ordinary course to get it settled at that very moment was to speak to me or the Secretary over the phone to which we all were connected.  Otherwise, he could take up the matter with my superior, which would have been the right course. What he did instead amounted to the criminal act of trespassing, intimidation, and threat to life, for which he was punishable under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code. But my F. I. R. was not taken to record at the instance of those who mattered. Law remained a mute spectator while the culprit had a field day. It came in a news item then that the Home Secretary had denied any F. I. R. had been lodged. He, though, was fully aware of the facts, did not take any action to institute even a departmental inquiry. 

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I may mention that I had earlier insisted on submission of a voucher relating to an expense made by the said ADC out of the government cash advanced to him during one of Governor's Delhi trips sometime before these incidents. The financial rules require, given an advance out of a govt cash, the same should be adjusted later with vouchers of expenditure. All efforts to get the voucher from the ADC in the above matter having failed, I referred it to the Secretary to enforce compliance by the ADC. 

On a different occasion, the same ADC had almost created a crisis involving an officiating Governor's visit to Delhi. I had written a strongly worded confidential D. O. letter to the Secretary on that occasion highlighting the undesirable activity of the ADC and seeking appropriate action. I feel said Demi Official letter was either shown to him or, he had somehow got access to it. 

These actions involving him might have made him mad and led him to cause these criminal acts.   __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I reported the incident of Jan 22nd  to the Secretary the very next day, requesting him to take appropriate action. I asked for security guards to be posted at my residence for the safety and security of my family against the threat hurled by the ADC. I forwarded copies of this letter to the Chief Secretary (CS) and the Home Secretary (HS) of the Govt of West Bengal for necessary action. I had personally delivered these copies at the respective offices of the HS and the CS. But there was no action, no guards posted.

The next night (January the 23rd, 1992), we started receiving threat calls from the associates of the ADC (claiming to be from Navy House). A Telephone operator of Rajbhawan had also received one such call, and had informed me of it. Members of my family became frightened by these calls. Later, I received further information from the telephone operator that the concerned ADC was about to start for my flat with an ulterior motive of causing harm to me. I had reasons to be worried as these officers, being of defence services, were authorised to carry firearms, and in a drunken state, a man loses his senses.  I immediately contacted the Home Secretary over the phone, apprised him of the situation, and sought his immediate help. I also told him that I was unable to reach my Secretary. The Home Secretary informed me that my Secretary was at his place; he would appraise him of the developments I had reported, and himself would take proper action. 

The Secretary to the Governor had the full knowledge of ADC’s transgressing to my residence, followed by intimidation and threat of the previous night. He had also been aware of the possibility of further attack by the ADC in the context of the latter’s threat of the night before. Yet, he did nothing to restrain the ADC concerned from his contemptuous and illegal act. He instead made himself unavailable by taking shelter in the Home Secretary’s place to avoid being involved in the matter if the situation took an ugly turn. It is also significant that he did not, as my immediate superior, consider it necessary to contact me even once during the entire day of the twentythird January. It would not be wrong to form a conjecture that the Secretary had his blessings on whatever was happening. It is a classic example of not only inaction and shirking of responsibility but also of the covert support of a senior IAS officer to a criminal act. 

As for ourselves, we took refuge in the flat opposite ours, where Mr. Nibir Bandopadhyay, Chief Engineer, Agriculture, lived with his family. A little later, we heard the sound of repeated pounding on the door of our flat. I saw through the eye-hole of the door of the flat we had taken refuge in that the Navy ADC was standing in front of our flat kicking on the door. He had an associate with him, a Rajbhawan Driver, who called me aloud, identifying himself as Sankar. The ADC could not kick open the door, and we heard him asking his associate to break it, which the associate refused to do. The ADC, at that moment,  had no qualms even to break open the door. The activity of the ADC at that instance was nothing better than that of a ruffian. As the thumping and kicking of the door came to a low ebb, the military police arrived, possibly at the intervention of the Home Secretary, whom I had apprised earlier of ADC's move. Then came three state police personnel led by an official from the local PS. The military police took away the Navy ADC. The officer from the local PS recorded my statement in the presence of the occupants of the flat, where we had taken shelter, and left.

On January 25th, I officially informed the Secretary to the Governor of the latter incident of the twenty-third of January by a DO letter asking for action in the light of my earlier letter and the instant one. I had again forwarded copies of these letters to the Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary to the Govt of West Bengal. If my memory fails me not, I also brought the matter to the notice of the Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, after the Navy ADC  repeated the criminal act of the twenty-second of January 1992. The record of that communication has unfortunately got lost.

I had also written to the Officer-in-charge of Alipore P. S. on the twenty-ninth of January 1992 under registered post asking him to take action against the accused based on my statement recorded by the police officer at the place of occurrence on the night of the twenty-third of January 1992 and had forwarded him a synopsis of the points I had mentioned while giving that statement. I had requested him (the O. C. of the PS) to include that synopsis as a part of the FIR. But the police did not treat my letter of intimation as FIR and did not start a case. A copy of the letter duly captioned is available on the Appendix Page under Rajbhawan Affairs.

The Governor, the late Prof S. Nurul Hasan, had been away at the time of the incident. After he returned, I met him and reported the incident requesting action against the delinquent officer. The Governor had listened to me but had refrained from making any observation. I was stunned at the total silence of the Governor without an iota of condemnation for ADC's act or a word of solace for me. He did not spend a single word to indicate that he was displeased and would look into the matter. I had expected that as the Head of the State and a learned man, he would have the virtue of imparting justice, but that expectation was belied. Before I left, I informed him that I had to go on leave; I could not work in such an environment. I was on leave when I met the Governor. 

I am not aware of any action from any end. The entire matter got hushed up at all quarters. Even an inquiry, as I had demanded, was not conducted at any level of civil administration; otherwise, I, being the aggrieved party, must have known about it. It is thus clear that those in power wanted this grievous matter to die a silent death. (I had demanded an impartial inquiry on the conduct of the Navy ADC, who had criminally trespassed on my residence, in my communications to various authorities)

I don't, however, know if the Naval Headquarters had taken any action against the ADC. It was likely that the administrative authority of the concerned Navy ADC, in his parent department, would have got some report from the Military Police, who had escorted the ADC out from the precinct of my flat on the night of the 23rd of January.

I downplayed the happenings. Despite pestering by the reporters, I refused to give an interview to the press, considering the sensitivity of the matter and the prestige of Rajbhawan. The news, however, appeared later in the Statesman, Janasatta, and Bartaman on different dates, each carrying a version of its own. Cuttings from some of those newspapers are in the last part of the Appendix Page of this website. To go there, click here. 

As already stated, the police from the local PS had come on the 23rd of January 1992 and recorded my statement. That was all they did on their part. . Finding that the state authorities had hushed up the matter, I regretted that I had made a mistake in not bringing up the incidents from my end through the media, which had approached me for details.

My family members were scared and would not allow me to go to the office until the situation was agreeable. I went on leave from the twenty-fourth of January 1992 after the second incident on the twenty-third of January 1992. Within a week, I received orders for my transfer, which had been under consideration of the Govt since earlier to these incidents. I joined as Deputy Secretary to the Govt. in the Department of Health & Family Welfare on Feb 1, 1992, on the expiry of my leave.

In conclusion, I can only say that those at the helm of affairs in State Administration and in Rajbhawan at that time lacked the grit to proceed against a junior  Defence Service officer of the rank of Lieutenant, be it under political compulsion or otherwise. They not only did not take any action against the delinquent officer but also exercised authority to stall all actions against my FIR to the O. C. Alipore, sent through registered post. The Home Secretary had told the press that there was no FIR lodged. It was despite my statement recorded by the police at the place of occurrence on the night of the incident of Jan 23, 1992, and my letter to the O. C. of the Alipore P. S. to treat that statement as the FIR. The administration, too, did not cause any inquiry into the matter, even though I had asked for it. The intention to save some senior officers from being exposed for their role in the happenings might have acted against holding an independent inquiry.  

We had the following officers running the State and the Rajbhawan at that time:

1. N. Krishnamurti IAS - Chief Secretary (since deceased)

2. Manish Gupta, an ex-Army IAS - Home Secretary (since retired, and then joined Trinamul Congress Party becoming a Minister  for one term and later an MP representing the same party) 

3. Rajiv Srivastava, IAS - Secretary to the Governor. (Since retired. Don't know his present occupation)

As for myself, I could not seek legal redress in an appropriate court of law as I did not have adequate resources in man and money. Besides, those in the corridor of power, who had been trying to hush up the matter, would not have taken it kindly and most certainly would have created severe troubles in my way of life. With my family solely depending on me, I could not take the risk. 

Copies of all letters to different authorities, acknowledgments, and documents on this episode could be seen on the  Appendix page of this website. To go there,  click the button below