Law intern sexual assault case: AK Ganguly keeps away from Bengal rights panel office

Beleaguered Justice (retd) AK Ganguly, who is stated to have resigned as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment, did not attend office today.

Ganguly called up his office in the morning and told the staff that he would not be coming today, WBHRC sources told PTI.

However, he did not inform the staff whether he had resigned as WBHRC chairman or not.

Ganguly had on Monday met West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan at Raj Bhavan after which highly-placed sources had said he had resigned but the judge himself refused to comment on the matter.

The development came close on the heels of the Union Cabinet on Thursday last approving a proposal for sending a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court on the issue, which was seen as a step towards his removal as WBHRC chairman.

A three-judge Supreme Court panel had indicted Ganguly by holding that the statement of the intern, both written and oral, had prima facie disclosed "an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature)" by the judge with her in the Le Meridien hotel room on December 24 last year.

Justice Ganguly has denied the allegations of the law intern and blamed "powerful interests" of trying to tarnish his image due to certain judgements delivered by him.