Trinamool demands Justice Ganguly's resignation over intern harassment case

Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Wednesday, demanded the immediate resignation of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Asok Ganguly, from chairperson’s post of West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), over allegations of sexual harassment against him.

“The Trinamool Congress has noted with anxiousness and concern the charges of sexual harassment against Justice (retired) Asok Kumar Ganguly, chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC). The charges cannot but leave an impact on public perception of his current role as chair of the WBHRC,” Derek O’Brien, TMC parliamentary party chief whip in Rajya Sabha said in a statement.

“It would be wholly incumbent upon Justice Ganguly to step down from his position as chair of the WBHRC and restore the sanctity of the office he currently holds. Public propriety and a sense of decency demand this. I therefore urge Justice Ganguly to resign as chair of the WBHRC,” he added.

Justice Ganguly is accused of sexually harassing a young law intern at a Delhi hotel in December, 2012. After the matter surfaced in public, the matter was investigated by a committee of three serving Supreme Court judges. They have delivered their report to P Sathasivam, the Chief Justice of India.

Ganguly has denied all such allegations and has said that he was still undecided on whether to step down from WBHRC chairman post and questions are being raised whether he should continue in office. While likes of senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj have called for Ganguly’s immediate ouster as the chief of the WBHRC, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government was so far silent on the matter.

TMC MPs, like Kalyan Banerjee and Saugata Roy, raised their voices in individual capacity, but now the TMC seems to have taken an official stand on this.

Incidentally, TMC-government, in recent times, has had a turbulent equation with Ganguly. In one such flash point, WBHRC had asked state government  to pay a total compensation of Rs 1 lakh to professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and his neighbour, who were arrested for circulating a cartoon that made fun of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.