A.K. Ganguly must quit, says BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday demanded the resignation of West Bengal Human Rights Commission chief A.K. Ganguly, a former judge of the Supreme Court accused by a law intern of sexual harassment.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj raised the demand for the resignation of Ganguly as soon as the house assembled for the day.

A three-member Supreme Court judges' probe panel, in a report submitted early this month, found Ganguly guilty of "unwelcome behaviour", but said that since he was no longer a sitting judge of the apex court, and the victim was not on the rolls of the court, no further action was needed to be taken by the apex court in the matter.

Sushma Swaraj said Ganguly should have quit when he was accused of sexual harassment, in the first place. If not then, now that the apex court panel has indicted him, he must resign, she said.

"But he has stuck to his chair, hence I, through you (the speaker), urge him to immediately resign from his post, failing which he should be removed," she said.

"These are all relationships based on trust. If these trustworthy people become the accused, then the situation becomes all the more serious," she said.

The opposition leader said: "The higher the stature of a person, the bigger should be the punishment. The stature of a person, instead of becoming his shield, should become the reason for his punishment."

Sushma Swaraj said that cases of sexual harassment were being exposed every day, and the way to control them is to punish all the big men involved in such crimes quickly, so other people too learn a lesson.

Supporting her demand, Trinamool Congress member Sudip Bandopadhyay said: "We endorse her (Sushma Swaraj's) views and Ganguly should resign immediately. The allegations against him should be taken seriously and such kind of a person should not be allowed to continue as the chairman of the human rights commission of West Bengal".