Justice says he is no Tejpal

Ashok Ganguly, boss of Bengal HR panel, denies harassing intern

A three-member panel appointed by the Supreme Court has revealed that the former judge, who is accused of sexually harassing an intern, is none other than AK Ganguly, the current boss of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

The panel headed by Justice R M Lodha probed the charge of sexual harassment and submitted its report on Thursday to the Chief Justice, after recording the statement of Justice Ganguly,

It is the first time that the alleged perpetrator has been named.

The statement of the law intern was also recorded. She had also submitted three affidavits. The intern had earlier this month told a legal news portal that a "recently retired" judge, with whom she was working earlier, had sexually harassed her. He had allegedly misbehaved with her in a hotel room last December when the nation was grappling with the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in the national capital.

Officials, however, did not give any further details of the findings of the committee.

Ganguly, while talking to TV channels, on Friday denied the charges saying he is a victim of circumstances. Asked specifically about the accusation that he had asked the intern to come to a hotel room, Ganguly said he was

in Delhi at that point of time in connection with work and she also happened to be in the city. "She came on her own to my room," he said. "If she felt uncomfortable working with me she was free to leave," he reasoned. He added that the intern was like his child and he had always treated her that way. She had also visited him several times at his residence. The intern had also never raised the issue of harassment with him, he claimed. Asked if he was worried whether the 3-judge committee will pass strictures against him, he said, "I don't know what kind of strictures will be there." To another question whether he felt that the committee could have preconceived notions about him, he said, "I am not saying anything." Asked whether the allegations have cast a shadow on him, he said the people would judge him by his "conduct" and by his judicial work. He said that his case could not be compared with that of Tarun Tejpal. "Don't compare this case with Tejpal, please," he told a television channel. ''If this trend continues, then it would be difficult for upright judges to work in the Supreme Court," he asserted. The intern had further claimed that at least three other girls had also faced harassment by the same judge. The girl said that she had refrained from disclosing the details initially due to the high position that the judge held.