Beleaguered West Bengal Human Rights Commission chairman Justice (retd) Ashok Kumar Ganguly on Friday resigned from the post of honorary professor of the National University of Juridical Sciences, a student of which had made allegations of sexual harassment against him.
Justice (retd) A K Ganguly on Friday preferred to remain "quiet" over his resignation as West Bengal Human Rights Commission chief after the Union cabinet approved a proposal for sending a presidential reference to the Supreme Court on the issue saying he hasn't "decided anything".
The development comes as a major blow for Ganguly, who has been mulling to quit as the WBHRC in the wake of rising demands for his ouster for sexually harassing a young law intern last year.
The Indian Express on Monday carries a detailed account of the alleged incident involving a young intern and a former Supreme Court Judge viz Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.
Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said he was waiting to see when Supreme Court "rises to the occasion" to deal with the issue of Justice A K Ganguly even as pressure mounts on the former Supreme Court judge, indicted in a sexual harassment case, to step down as head of West Bengal human rights panel.
Trinamool Congress on Wednesday demanded the resignation of former Supreme Court Judge Ashok Ganguly as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission in the wake of the allegation of sexual harassment by a woman law intern.
Excerpts of an affidavit by a law intern, who has accused former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly of sexual harassment, have been made public in an unusual step by Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising, sparking off fresh demands for his resignation as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
Former Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly on Tuesday said he resigned as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission 'to obviate any further controversy' while holding that the grounds on which Centre made a recommendation against him to the President were "untenable" and "misconceived.
With details of affidavit filed by the intern in molestation case becoming public, Law Minister Kapil Sibal virtually put the onus of action against Justice A K Ganguly on the Supreme Court amid demands for filing of a case against him and resignation as head of West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan has accepted the resignation of Justice Ashok Ganguly as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, highly-placed sources said on Tuesday.
Troubles grew for the beleaguered former Supreme Court judge Justice Asok Ganguly with a non-governmental organisation on Wednesday moving the police seeking action against him in the alleged sexual harassment of a law intern even as he denied reports of fresh allegations that have appeared in the media.
Denying any sexual harassment of a young woman law intern, former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Ganguly on Friday said he was "shocked and shattered" by the charges against him.
Government on Thursday appeared to be moving towards making a presidential reference for removal of Justice A K Ganguly as head of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission in the wake of his indictment by a Supreme Court committee for "unwelcome behaviour" towards a law intern.
As pressure mounted on him to resign in the wake sexually harassment charges, chief of West Bengal Human Rights Commission Justice AK Ganguly has sought four weeks' time to respond to National Commission for Women which had asked him to explain his position.
A former law intern, who accused ex-Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly of sexual harassment, has hit back at him for denying the charges and hinted that she may file a police complaint.
As Justice (retd) A K Ganguly faced calls to quit as chief of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, faculty members of the premier National University of Juridical Sciences on Wednesday demanded his removal as honorary professor.
As pressure mounted on him to quit as the chief of West Bengal Human Rights Commission over a sexual assault allegation, former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly on Tuesday said he was "undecided" on his future course of action.
Former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly, accused of sexually harassing a law intern, on Tuesday hit out at the media for repeatedly asking whether he would resign as the chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
The government on Thursday approved a proposal for sending a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for conducting a probe into an allegation of sexual harassment against retired apex court judge A K Ganguly.
The three-judge committee of the Supreme Court has concluded that the statement of the law intern, who had complained against Justice A K Ganguly, prima facie discloses an "act of unwelcome behaviour" and "conduct of sexual nature" on the part of the retired judge.
The government is likely to send this week a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for conducting a probe into the allegation of sexual harassment against Justice (retd) A K Ganguly after the attorney general has endorsed it.
The Delhi police has asked the law intern, who had alleged sexual assault by retired Supreme Court judge Justice A K Ganguly, to come forward and file a complaint in the case.
Amidst reports of Congress' confabulations with the Rashtriya Janata Dal for a secular alliance in Bihar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the Congress preferring Lalu Prasad over him and said such an 'opportunistic' alliance was not a cause of worry for it.
Former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly maintains his defiant stand on the sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by a law intern in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN.
Notwithstanding the growing clamour for his resignation as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly on Tuesday ruled it out.
The one-man committee, appointed by the All India Football Federation to look into the legality of Mohun Bagan's actions in their I-League derby against East Bengal early this month, submitted its report today and the AIFF Emergency Committee will take a decision on Saturday.
Rebutting criticism that the 2G judgment was a case of judicial overreach, Justice A K Ganguly, who was on the two-member bench of the Supreme Court that cancelled 122 licenses, on Monday asserted that the courts can certainly scrutinise and strike down policy decisions which are unconstitutional.
With Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising making excerpts from the law intern's affidavit public, former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly, accused of sexually harassing the intern, today questioned how could a confidential statement be made public.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Ganguly, under fire over allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a law intern, has resigned from the post of the chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
The sexual harassment allegation against former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly was raised in Parliament today with the BJP and the Trinamool Congress demanding his removal as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, saying on ethical grounds he should have resigned by now.
Coming to the defence of beleaguered Justice AK Ganguly again, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Thursday said it would be a 'travesty of justice' if the Supreme Court was requested by the Centre to probe into the allegations against him afresh.
With the Supreme Court washing its hands off the issue, the Delhi Police on Friday asked the woman law intern to record her statement in the sexual harassment complaint she had made against retired Justice A K Ganguly who has been indicted by an apex court panel.
'If the court realises, within a couple of years, that women are making all kinds of allegations for other ulterior motives, then it will become difficult for women,' well-known Supreme Court lawyer Mukul Rohatgi tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
A former law intern, who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Swatanter Kumar, on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking inquiry against the retired judge.
Former Supreme Court judge Swatanter Kumar, who is facing charges of sexually harassing an intern, made no comments on Saturday despite repeated attempts by the media to get his reaction.
With India locked in a face-off with the United States over the arrest of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on Thursday said such things should not happen to high-level officials.
The government is likely to send a Presidential reference to Supreme Court for conducting a probe into the allegation of sexual harassment against Justice (retd) A K Ganguly after Attorney General has endorsed it.
The demand for removal of Justice A K Ganguly, accused of harassing a law intern, from the post of Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, along with Telangana issue paralysed the functioning of Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The highest court in the land will have to find a mechanism under which in future, if sexual harassment allegations are made against a judge, he/she will not go in the manner of Justice Ganguly. Hopefully, there will be some kind of system and guidelines to be followed by the accused and the victim, says Sheela Bhatt.