Kolkata College Principal Faces FIR Amid High Court Drama
In a shocking twist at Kolkata’s Rani Birla Girls’ College, police have filed an FIR against principal Srabanti Bhattacharaya. The complaint accuses her of caste-based humiliation, just as a major court battle over college leadership heats up.
The FIR hit the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station on September 12, but details only came out on Thursday. It was lodged by Mantu Das, a Hindi teacher from a socially backward community who’s been at the college since 2014. Das says Bhattacharaya started humiliating him based on his caste right after she became principal in 2022. He claims the taunts and disrespect have gone on for years, making his work life tough.
But Bhattacharaya isn’t backing down. She strongly denies the allegations and says she won’t comment further, pointing out that this seems tied to an ongoing case at the Calcutta High Court. "I stand by my actions as principal," she told reporters briefly, refusing to dive deeper.
This FIR drops at a sensitive time for the college. Just a day earlier, a single-judge bench led by Justice Bivas Pattanayak stepped in with an interim stay. The court blocked a show-cause notice and suspension order that Kajori Banerjee – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s sister-in-law and president of the college’s working committee – had issued against the principal.
Justice Pattanayak didn’t hold back. He questioned how Kajori Banerjee, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councillor with no clear ties to education, landed the top spot on the committee. "The law says the president should be someone linked to education," the judge noted. "She’s just a councillor – is there proof she’s involved in education? We need to check if her appointment is even legal."
The row started when Bhattacharaya challenged Kajori Banerjee’s role as committee president. Rani Birla Girls’ College, a well-known spot for undergraduate studies in Kolkata, is now caught in this web of politics, court orders, and fresh complaints.
People in political and academic circles are buzzing with suspicion. Why did Das wait three years to file the FIR if the humiliation began in 2022? And why now, right when the High Court is grilling the committee’s setup? Many see it as a possible retaliation linked to the ongoing college governance dispute.
As the Calcutta High Court case continues, all eyes are on what happens next. Will the FIR lead to more trouble for the principal, or is it part of a bigger power play in Kolkata’s education scene? Stay tuned for updates on this Kolkata college controversy.
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