Justice AK Ganguly (file photo)
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has slammed Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising for releasing an affidavit, filed by a young woman where she has accused former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly of sexual harassment.
"I am amazed that any law officer of the government of India can contend that all affidavits contain truth and only truth," Mr Chatterjee said.
Ms Jaising had told Indian Express that the woman in a signed affidavit to the three serving judges had alleged that Justice AK Ganguly repeatedly told her that he loved her, and then followed her into an elevator urging her not to leave the hotel room where they were meant to be working.
Ms Jaisingh later told NDTV that she had the young woman's permission to make the revelation and that Justice Ganguly must step down as West Bengal Human Rights Commission chairman. She has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking Justice Ganguly's removal.
The allegations against Justice Ganguly surfaced last month when a young lawyer blogged that she had been sexually harassed by a judge she had interned for, at a hotel in Delhi. She did not name him.
Earlier this month, a panel of three Supreme Court judges said that the allegations appeared to be true, but no action could be taken as Justice Ganguly had retired before the incident. The lack of punishment has dismayed many activists and lawyers.