Former Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan, who resigned following allegations that he had molested a woman, had put in his papers on “health grounds”, a senior official told The Hindu. Since no criminal proceedings can be initiated against a governor or the president during their term in office as per the Constitution, Shanmuganathan was asked to resign, also because dismissing someone in his position is a “tedious process”, the official said.
The central government had advised Shanmuganathan to resign as the allegations against him “were of such serious nature that the system had to take cognisance”, a senior Home Ministry official told The Indian Express. President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the Meghalaya governor’s resignation on Friday.
More than 80 staff of the Shillong Raj Bhavan had written to the president and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Shanmuganathan’s removal, claiming that he had molested a job aspirant when she had met him for an interview. They had also alleged that the 68-year-old, a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist from Tamil Nadu, had turned the office into a “young ladies club” and compromised the security of the Raj Bhavan.
The Civil Society Women Organisation and Thma u Rangli launched a signature campaign and protested outside the Shillong Raj Bhavan on Thursday, demanding his immediate dismissal.
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