President has power to remove Ganguly: Saugata Roy

Trinamool Congress party (TMC) leader Saugata Roy said today removing retired Supreme Court Judge AK Ganguly from the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, over allegations that he sexually assaulted a law intern, is only in the hands of the President.

"We have asked him to resign, but removing him is in the hands of the President, as under the human rights act only the president has the power to remove the chairman of a state Human Rights Commission, said Roy.

Furthermore, he said, his party has written a letter to the President seeking his removal from the WBHRC.

"Our Chief Minister has written to the President for his removal. Today Kalyan Banerjee is moving a motion under rule 193 in the parliament. Our party has officially asked for his removal," he added.

The intern's allegations created a media furor with female lawyers and activists calling for the country's top court to investigate the incident and for the accused retired judge to be named publicly.

The Supreme Court set up a three-judge panel, which heard testimonies from both and submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India, P. Sathasivam, naming Ganguly as the accused.

It is for the first time that the Supreme Court has set up an internal inquiry into sexual harassment allegations against a former judge.