West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan has accepted the resignation of former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly who stepped down as chairman of the state’s human rights commission yesterday after being indicted for sexual harassment.
Justice Ganguly met the Governor at Raj Bhavan yesterday after which he refused to comment on the matter.
Last month, a committee of three Supreme Court judges found the former judge guilty of sexually harassing a lawyer who interned for him at a five-star hotel in Delhi in December 2012.
The panel indicted him for “unwelcome behaviour” and “conduct of sexual nature” towards the woman but said no action could be taken as he had retired before the incident.
Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising, who made public the woman’s statement to the judges’ panel, said she was happy about Justice Ganguly’s resignation. “It was long overdue, it should have come earlier. This is a case about the treatment of working women, whether it is a judge or any other person, a certain standard of behaviour is expected,” she told .
Justice Ganguly, 66, was under intense political pressure to step down since the young lawyer blogged about the incident two months ago, without naming him. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had since written to President Pranab Mukherjee twice, seeking his removal.
Last week, the Union Cabinet had cleared a request for a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court to forcibly remove Justice Ganguly. Sources say he didn’t want to face the embarrassment of a Presidential reference.
