SC dismisses PIL to stay proceedings against Justice Ganguly

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation seeking its direction to stay all proceedings against its former judge A K Ganguly, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment.

A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed the PIL, saying 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 it. It is too early to say anything about it," the bench said, adding, "Let the law take its own course".

The court was hearing a PIL, filed by a woman doctor and Delhi resident M Padma Narayan Singh, seeking quashing of the complaint.

A three-member panel of apex court judges had indicted Justice Ganguly, chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, for unwelcome behaviour against a law intern.

The petitioner, who is a senior citizen, alleged that Ganguly has become a victim of conspiracy as he, as an arbitrator, had decided a matter between a prominent football club of Kolkata and the All India Football Federation, in which the intern had also participated.

The bench also dismissed a similar PIL filed on the issue.

Justice Ganguly, who had already distanced himself from the petitions, has conveyed his intention to resign as chairman of the WBHRC in a recent conversation with former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee.

The former AG told Ganguly that it was a "wise decision".

A three-judge Supreme Court panel had indicted Justice 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 a hotel room on December 24 last year.

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

In a letter of Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam in December, Justice Ganguly claimed that he had neither harassed the law intern nor made any unwelcome advances towards her or any other female intern.