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.
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.
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.
A day after an angry West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee screamed at her security guards in full public view saying they 'should be whipped' for making her wait for her car, a complaint was on Thursday filed against her in the state 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.
Observing that the Bengal governments progress in matters related to post-poll violence did not inspire confidence, the Calcutta high court on Monday dismissed the dispensation's prayer for recall of an order that directed the NHRC chairperson to form a committee to examine cases of alleged human rights violations.
A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday appointed its former chief justice Manjula Chellur to "overview" the functioning of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has been formed to probe allegations of post-poll violence, other than rape and murder.
The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre and West Bengal government to respond to a plea seeking directions to prevent the alleged exodus due to 'state-sponsored' violence after the assembly polls, constituting a Special Investigating Team to probe the issue and take action against culprits.
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.
A new report, "India Justice Report 2025", highlights the stark gender disparity in India's police force, with less than 1,000 women holding senior positions like Director-Generals and Superintendents of Police. Despite growing awareness about the need for gender diversity in law enforcement, not a single state or Union Territory has met its target for women's representation in the police force. The report also emphasizes the significant challenges faced by the justice system as a whole, including infrastructural deficiencies, overcrowding in prisons, and inadequate staffing levels. The report calls for systemic reforms to address these issues and ensure a more equitable and accessible justice system for all.
In a series of tweets, the Home Department of the West Bengal government said the Governor's act of making the letter public was "violative of all established norms, and disrupts sanctity of such communications".
The National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the West Bengal government and the state's police chief on Thursday in connection with the killing of eight people in Birbhum district, and sought a report within four weeks, detailing the steps taken to ensure the safety of people, officials said.
The Kerala police were the most sensitised to the rights of those arrested while that of Jharkhand and Gujarat the least.
Calling the political condition prevailing in West Bengal "horrible and frightening", Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar alleged on Tuesday that the people of the state do not have the freedom to exercise their franchise fearlessly.
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.
The Supreme Court expressed serious concern over the Enforcement Directorate summoning advocates for offering legal advice or representing clients during investigations, calling for guidelines on the matter.
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.
Businesses and banks in Guwahati were open and vehicles plied the roads but schools and colleges were closed. Stray incidents of clashes were reported in West Bengal.
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.
The National Human Rights Commission on Monday asked its investigation unit to collect facts and requisite reports on the killing of Maoist leader Kishenji within six weeks.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Banerjee also said she may not join the dharna being staged by Trinamool Congress MPs in protest against 'attack on party workers' in Tripura, but will surely express solidarity with them.
The state government in its special leave petition alleged that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, pointed to the members of the committee that has been formed to investigate the incidents and said, "Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee my Lords?"
The West Bengal will appeal to the larger bench of the SC against an order of the court scrapping admission of 69 NRI students.
The Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura's capital Agartala on Tuesday announced the suspension of all visa and consular services with immediate effect until further notice because of 'security reasons', a day after the mission's premises was breached by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Dhaka.
Calcutta High Court ordered setting up of a committee which may recommend to the state a ban on entry to Sagar Island if there is any violation of health safety norms.
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.
Expressing his ignorance about allegations that Justice (retd) A K Ganguly was framed for his 2G verdict, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said Union Cabinet has done whatever done in his matter.
A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday held on-spot inquiries in Sandeshkhali to ascertain facts about alleged sexual abuse by some Trinamool Congress leaders even as fresh agitation rocked the trouble-torn village, where locals torched the property of accused Trinamool leaders and held demonstrations against the delay in arresting the main accused, Shahjahan Sheikh.
Citing Section 144 CrPC was in force in parts of Sandeshkhali and it would not be prudent to allow them access to the area even in groups of four-five, senior police officers stopped their convoy at the Bhojerhat area, which is around 52 km from the riverine area, on Basanti Highway.
The apex court dismissed the plea stating that the matter was being looked into by the National Human Rights Commission.
Taking a serious view of unabated violence in Nandigram, the National Human Rights Commission on Monday sought a report from the West Bengal government on the situation in the area and asked the Union Home Ministry to take steps to restore peace in the trouble-torn parts of the state.
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.
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.
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.
"The Election Commission, in my opinion, is theoretically correct. But, it is also true that the Election Commission had directed the administration to transfer officials with administrative duties and post them according to its direction at the time when it was in charge of the election. "If offences had occurred as a consequence of the polls, it was also the duty of the Election Commission at least to direct or advise the administration to register the complaints which it did not," Justice IP Mukerji observed.
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".
Chanting 'Justice for RG Kar' and 'Justice for our sister', hundreds of IT professionals took to the streets of Sector V in Salt Lake, the city's IT Hub, protesting against the rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up four teams, each headed by joint directors Ramnish, Anurag, Vineet Vinayak and Sampat Meena, to probe the political violence which ensued after the victory of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on May 2 in a bitterly fought eight-phase assembly poll in West Bengal.
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