Sexual harassment: Kolkata HC lawyers stand divided on Justice Ganguly

Kolkata, Dec 18: A group of lawyers from the

on Wednesday came out in support of former

judge

, accused of sexually harassing a law intern, saying he should be allowed to work freely till proven guilty.

Senior lawyers Bikash Bhattacharya and Arunava Ghosh led the protest outside the High Court premises where they raised slogans in support of Justice Ganguly saying demands of action against him were "motivated".

"The woman has not filed an FIR in the case till now. The Supreme Court committee which made the inquiry had no legal authority to do so. Then what is he being targeted for?" Bhattacharya said after the rally.

Former SC judge A K Ganguly is accused of sexually harassing a law intern.

He said, Ganguly should be allowed to work freely as the chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) as per law. "People are busy doing his character assassination, but there has been no investigation in the case.

He has been put under tremendous pressure by politicians to quit the post, but till the time he is proven guilty, he should be allowed to work freely," Bhattacharya said. This is the first time a group of lawyers came out in the open to support justice Ganguly.

Earlier, another group of lawyers and activists had burnt his effigies twice in protest rallies and sat on a dharna outside his office demanding his resignation as the WBHRC chief.

Several women rights activists, political leaders from the BJP and the Trinamool Congress have been vocal demanding his removal.

President Pranab Mukherjee has already referred two letters of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the Union Home Ministry seeking further action against Ganguly.

PTI