With the Supreme Court washing its hands off from the case of sexual harassment of a law intern by Justice (retired) AK Ganguly, demands for action against him grew louder on Friday.
law Minister Kapil Sibal and leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley slammed the judiciary for not acting against the judge. Echoing their views, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath demanded that Justice Ganguly should quit as chairman of the West Bengal Human Right Commission and action be taken against him.
Similarly, the National Commission of Women wrote a fresh letter to the Delhi Police asking it to lodge a formal complaint against the judge in the light of the indictment by the apex court panel. It has also issued notice to Justice Ganguly on the issue asking why action should not be taken against him.
While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a second letter to President Pranab Mukherjee asking him to urgently take “appropriate action” against the former SC judge, an angry Justice Ganguly snapped at reporters saying he has tolerated enough. “Don’t disturb me...Don’t disturb me. I have tolerated enough,” Justice Ganguly told reporters in Kolkata when he stepped out of his house
A Committee of three judges of the Supreme Court had indicted Justice Ganguly for “unwelcome behaviour” and “conduct of sexual nature” towards the intern, prompting demands that action under criminal law should be initiated against him.
But Chief Justice of India Justice P Sathasivam had explained that since Justice Ganguly was not a serving judge at the time of the incident, no further follow up action was required by the Supreme Court. The political class was quick to seize its chance to show mirror to the judiciary. law Minister Kapil Sibal questioned the decision of the Supreme Court of not taking further action against the judge, saying the issue cannot be “brushed under the carpet.”
“I am a little disappointed because the institution which has found that sexual overtures were made, was to have taken the matter forward,” he said. He said in his view, prima facie the apex court has “brushed it under the carpet, in a sense that they have said that they have nothing to do with the matter because he is no longer a judge.
“Well, if he was no longer a judge, then they should not have set up the inquiry. Having come to a conclusion, they cannot give that reason to say they won’t take it forward,” he said in unusually strong remarks.Continued on Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said those occupying high offices must step down, whether guilty or not, as it only increases their moral stature. “The accusation of wrong behavior, to put it mildly is the same whether you are serving or you are a retired person. The accusation does not change,” she said when asked about the issue.
The BJP asked Justice Ganguly to step down as Chairman of WBHRC and said it was now incumbent on the Supreme Court to ensure that the law must take its own course. The Opposition party stated that the “administrative decision” of the Supreme Court - no follow up action could be taken against the retired judge facing allegations of sexually harassing an intern - was being closely watched by all citizens.
“This reasoning of the full court fails the test of conscience. Mahatma Gandhi had said, ‘There is a higher court than the courts of justice, and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts’. Is the Court dealing with a former Judge, who currently holds the office as the Chairman, Human Rights Commission, West Bengal in the same way as it would have dealt with any other person who is or has been the holder of an exalted officeIJ” leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley wrote on Facebook.
Jaitley argued that the standard that the Supreme Court follows for every holder of High office “must apply even more sternly” to a sitting or former judge of the court. In Kolkata, the ruling TMC stepped up the heat on Justice Ganguly demanding his resignation as the chairman of WBHRC to facilitate an even handed probe into the sexual charges levelled against him by a law intern.
Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote another letter to the President seeking urgent action to remove Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly from the chairman’s post of the state Human Rights Commission. Keeping up the heat on Justice Ganguly, Banerjee wrote on her Facebook page that she had on Thursday written to the President requesting him to take appropriate action urgently against Justice Ganguly for his “alleged misconduct”.
“Today, it is reported in the media that the three-judge panel of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has indicted him, prima facie, guilty of the charges levelled against him,” Banerjee said. “On this basis, I have sent another letter today to the Hon’ble President of India for taking urgent necessary action, so that Shri Ganguly is removed from his office at the earliest,” she said.