FROMhis point of view, Justice (Retd.) A.K. Ganguly has done well to resign from his office of West Bengal Human Rights Commission Chairman. Otherwise, he would have faced a formal Supreme Court inquiry based on a presidential reference. Ganguly was formerly a judge of the Supreme Court. He has resiled from his former recalcitrant stand to retain his job though the Supreme Court was mounting pressure against him. An SC-appointed committee of judges had found that Ganguly showed unwelcome behaviour towards an intern on December 24, 2012. Ganguly should have resigned after the ST panel released its inquiry findings. But the panel could not take punitive action as he had resigned when the alleged incident occurred. On the allegation of misdemeanour, Ganguly had a fair chance to defend himself. Jurists like Somnath Chatterjee said that Ganguly had been wrongly maligned. The affidavit made by the intern was not entirely convincing. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was most exercised about the case though she has been turning a blind eye on repeated cases of rape in her state.
The clincher however was the presidential reference suggesting Ganguly’s violation of the Foreign Currency Regulation Act on a Pakistan visit and acceptance of a fee to arbitrate a dispute between the All India Football Federation and Mohun Bagan Club. From this angle, the case presents a salutary lesson. Expeditious action prevents high officials from being shielded, especially serving judges of the higher judiciary and those retired. The government should not drag its feet in such cases and prompt action only can create confidence in state institutions. In this regard, Justice (Retd.) A.K. Ganguly cannot say that he has been the victim of a hostile approach.
