SC declines to entertain plea for action against intern

New Delhi, Jan 13: The

today declined to entertain a petition seeking action against the woman intern for levelling charges of sexual harassment against former apex court judge A K Ganguly. "We are not inclined to hear the petition," a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said while dismissing the petition filed by advocate M L Sharma, who had also sought action against the website and a national daily for publishing the allegations made by the intern.

"We heard you fully and if you have any other remedy under the law you can avail it," the bench said after giving him the opportunity to make his submission. The advocate said the allegations made by the intern and published by the website and the daily were defamatory in nature. He claimed that there was a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the judiciary and other retired judges would have to undergo the same ordeal undergone by Justice Ganguly and lately by another former apex court judge Swatanter Kumar against whom also allegations of sexual harassment have been levelled by another intern.

After the bench declined to entertain his petition, the advocate claimed that the entire conspiracy was being promoted by a foreign agency and the woman law officer, who has been spearheading the campaign and making loud noise on the issues of sexual harassment by former judges, was being funded by an American NGO. After declining the plea of the advocate, the bench adjourned for two weeks the hearing on another petition filed by Atto

rney General G E Vahanvati on the issue of sexual harassment of the intern. The Attorney General had filed the petition based on the media reports on November 12, 2013 on the allegations made by the intern, who was the student of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.

However, the apex court had suo motu taken cognizance of the reports and constituted a three-judge panel to go into the issue and had kept the petition filed by Vahanvati in abeyance. The panel had indicted justice Ganguly for his unwelcome behaviour and conduct of sexual nature towards the intern and later he resigned as the Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. Justice Ganguly has denied the intern's allegations against him.

PTI