Sexual harassment case: Justice Ganguly quits as WBHRC chief

Retired Justice AK Ganguly today submitted his resignation as the WBHRC chief to the West Bengal governor. He is facing sexual harassment charges that have been levelled against him by a NUJS student who did an internship with him. Ganguly was under pressure from various fronts after a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court found prima facie evidence against him the case. He had so far denied the charges against him and refused to quit from his post as the chairman of the WBHRC. [caption id=“attachment_1324881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Justice AK Ganguly. PTI[/caption] Prior to Ganguly’s resignation, the Supreme Court refused to entertain PILs on the controversy surrounding the former judge. A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed two PILs. One of them was filed by a woman doctor M Padma Narayan Singh who sought to quash the complaint on the basis of which the judges’ panel had confirmed the presence of prima facie evidence against him. The bench said that it cannot interfere in the issue at this stage and the “law will take its course in the matter”. “We have gone through every word of your averments and prayers. We are not inclined to go into them. Its too early to say anything about it,” the bench said, adding that “let the law take its own course”. Justice Ganguly, Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission who had already distanced himself from the petitions, in a recent conversation with former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee had conveyed his intention to resign as chairman of the WBHRC. The former AG told Ganguly that it was a “wise decision”. With PTI inputs