Ganguly gets Centre’s clean chit in intern case

KOLKATA: The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has cleared the air about Justice (retd) Asok Kumar Ganguly, saying there is no case against him. It has referred to the Delhi Police's feedback that there isn't adequate evidence to lodge an FIR against Justice Ganguly and no probe is on against him.
The former Supreme Court judge was indicted by a three member apex court committee for “unwelcome conduct of sexual nature” towards a woman who was interning with him in December, 2012, though the allegations came a year later in a blog entry on a legal portal.The judge eventually resigned as chairperson of West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
The MHA 's declaration comes in response to a letter from BJP leader Subramanian Swamy . Soon after the apex court panel held Ganguly “prime facie guilty”, the BJP leader shot a letter to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps to end the “witch-hunt against Justice against Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly”.
Swami told TOI on Wednesday: “I wrote to the PM that it was extremely important at that juncture to get an investigation completed before any precipitate action was taken merely to make out Justice Ganguly guilty without an opportunity of being heard.” He added, “What will the media say now? Everyone at that time was out to malign the judge and had him removed from the rights panel.” Ganguly had resigned from WBHRC in January , just before the Union Cabinet passed a proposal for sending a presidential reference to the SC to remove him. The MHA has written to Swamy that the Delhi Police has said the probe into the sexual harassment complaint has been suspended since the complainant has not been cooperating with the police despite repeated appeals.
“The Delhi Police have further informed that despite repeated requests, the woman complainant has not joined the inquiry and hence no further inquiry into the incident of alleged unwelcome behaviour of the former SC judge was possible,” the MHA wrote, adding, “Delhi Police added that the available material in the public domain on the issue did not disclose sufficient ground to proceed with the filing of the FIR under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
On December 7, after TOI reported the matter, the intern was asked to record her statement before the police so that a criminal case could be initiated se could be initiated against Ganguly .
At that time, the intern wrote to the police that she was out of the country and needed time to appear before the cops.
The judge had the rights body take suo motu cognizance of maximum violation cases in Benanguly gal, thus inviting the ruling party's wrath. After his resignation, the commission has become almost non functional with no permanent chairperson.
“I'm a victim of circumstances,” Ganguly had told the three-judge fact-finding committee by then chief justice P S Sathasivam. Soon after, there was another complaint of sexual harassment against an SC judge, Swatanter Kumar. Justice Kumar subsequently moved Delhi high court in a defamation suit against the intern.
Asked if he, too, would now file a defamation case, Justice Ganguly told TOI: “I shall think about that later. I have no comment on the matter now .”