Resigned in disgust, SC treated me badly: Justice AK Ganguly

Former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly on Wednesday said he was shattered by the nature of the complaint against him and said he resigned from his post in disgust as he could not continue with dignity and honour. [caption id=“attachment_1328849” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Retd SC judge AK Ganguly. PTI[/caption] “My conscience is clear, I resigned in disgust. I could not continue as chairperson with dignity and honour.” Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN after resigning from his post as chairperson of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, Ganguly slammed the Supreme Court panel that probed allegations against him, saying it had no jurisdiction over retired judges. “They (SC judges) have acted without basis. They have no jurisdiction over retired supreme court judges,” Ganguly said, adding that they manner in which the panel conducted the inquiry was unprecedented. “I have been very badly treated by Supreme Court. This is unprecedented… I did not get a chance to make a detailed statement before the panel and they refused to provide me the intern’s statement,” he said. Ganguly said that the West Bengal government was very uncomfortable with him as the head of the rights body and said that the Union Cabinet “failed to apply its mind” on the issue but merely followed the state government’s recommendations while moving a Cabinet note seeking his removal. “These allegations were made to defame me,” Ganguly said. The former apex court judge also criticised the media, saying there should be balanced reporting. “My reputation has been hurt… everyone is accusing me without hearing my side of the story… my family has suffered tremendously,” he said, adding that even the intern did not name him in the case. “She (the intern) may have suffered unwelcome behaviour from me for one evening… If the intern was uncomfortable, she should have left the room… I never forced her to have dinner or stay with me,” he said. He further said that the intern was “never threatened” and “she never wanted this to happen as she’s not coming before the police (to file her complaint).” On Monday, Ganguly met West Bengal Governor MK Naryanan at Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation saying he could not continue in office with ‘dignity and honour’.