Kolkata:
The young lawyer who was allegedly sexually harassed by former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly has been contacted by the Delhi Police, asking her if she would like to file a formal complaint against him.
If she agrees, Justice Ganguly, who is Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, would face a criminal case. Yesterday, the Supreme Court said an inquiry had concluded that he indulged in "unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature" in a five-star hotel in Delhi in December.
('Unwelcome conduct of sexual nature' by Justice Ganguly, says inquiry)"Don't disturb me, I have already tolerated a lot," Justice Ganguly, 66, said angrily to reporters in Kolkata today. (
Who said what)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking "urgent appropriate action" against him. Her party, the Trinamool Congress, has said he should quit the state's human rights commission immediately. His supporters point out that Justice Ganguly was a frequent critic of Ms Banerjee and her government.
Justice Ganguly retired from the Supreme Court in 2012. Last month, a young woman lawyer blogged that as an intern, she had been sexually harassed in a hotel room by a judge who she did not name. The Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam, then tasked three serving Supreme Court judges to study the charges.
Yesterday, the Chief Justice said that though the inquiry indicts the former judge, no follow up action will be taken by the Supreme Court because the woman's internship with Justice Ganguly was a private placement and he had retired when the alleged violation took place.
Reacting to the court's decision, Law Minister Kapil Sibal today said he was "disappointed" with it for not proceeding against the former judge. "Why did they set up an inquiry if they knew he was a retired judge? Why did they wash their hands off the matter? It disappoints me," he said.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley tweeted, "Supreme Court on the administrative side may not have the power to deal with a retired judge. It could certainly do so on the judicial side."