A K Ganguly under pressure as affidavit is out

Pressure mounted on former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly on Monday to quit the chairmanship of West Bengal Human Rights Commission after Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising released excerpts of the law intern’s affidavit detailing the sexual harassment she underwent.

After the contents of the 14-page affidavit to a three-judge panel set up by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam came to light, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said he has full faith that the Supreme Court will take the "strictest possible action", be it the retired judge of the Supreme Court or anybody else. Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said Ganguly would only be protecting the dignity of the office that he occupies by relinquishing his post.

The fresh blow to Ganguly from Jaising came through a newspaper article, days after she approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention in removing Ganguly, who has denied any wrongdoing.

A cornered Ganguly, who found support from former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, questioned the release of a confidential document but Jaising said she had made the excerpts public with the "full support" of the intern and if Justice Ganguly refused to resign, then the process should be initiated for his removal by the President.

The incident became public last month after the intern wrote in a blog about the sexual harassment by Ganguly at a Delhi hotel when she had gone to assist him in his work on Christmas eve last year. The Supreme Court panel 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)".

In her affidavit, the intern said  Ganguly called her to the hotel where he was staying to complete a report relating to the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

"The judge informed me that the AIFF report had to be submitted the next morning and asked me to stay at the hotel and work all night. I declined and told him that I had to finish the work quickly and return to the PG (paying guest) accommodation," Jaising quoted from the intern's statement.

At one stage, the judge took out a bottle of red wine. "He also said that since I had had a long day, I should go into his bed room and relax while drinking some wine," the intern said. She said she felt uneasy, unsettled and disturbed by the judge's suggestion.

"You are very beautiful," the judge went on to tell her. "I immediately rose from my seat, but before I had a chance to respond to the statement, he caught hold of my arm, saying, you know that I am attracted to you, don't you? You must be thinking, what this old man is getting drunk and saying such things? But I really like you, I love you. When I tried to move away, he kissed my arm and repeated that he loved me," the intern said.

She said the judge later called her repeatedly but she initially did not take the calls. Later, Ganguly apologised to her. Two of her friends – a girl and boy – who were interning with Ganguly also left him after the episode, she said.

Jaising said she expected Ganguly to step down "voluntarily" but his refusal to resign has "compelled" her to take this course of action.

"In my opinion, people like Justice Ganguly must quit. I think what shocks me more than anything else is that how one can be totally unaware of what people do in the public domain and what they do in their personal lives, hoping that no one will ever get to know," she said.