Justice Ganguly case: Delhi Police to contact victim

New Delhi – A day after an apex court three-member panel indicted former judge A.K. Ganguly for “unwelcome behaviour” with a law intern in a hotel room here in December last year, Delhi Police Friday said they were now trying to get in touch with the woman.

“We are trying to get in touch with the complainant so that we may have her version of the said incident,” said a Delhi Police statement.

The judges’ panel report, submitted to Chief Justice P. Sathasivam Nov 28 and posted on the apex court website Thursday, said the statement of the law intern, now a la! wyer, “discloses an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-ve! rbal conduct of sexual nature) by Justice (retd) A.K. Ganguly with her in the room in hotel Le Meridien on Dec 24, 2012, approximately between 8 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.”.

After considering the report, a full bench of the apex court ruled out any action from the Supreme Court administration in the incident.

“Considering the fact that the said intern was not an intern on the roll of the Supreme Court and that the concerned Judge had already demitted office on account of superannuation on the date of the incident, no further follow-up action is required by this court,” it said.

The lawyer first alleged sexual harassment Nov 6 in a blog for Journal of Indian Law and Society. Subsequently, she repeated the allegation in an interview to Legally India website.

The young lawyer, who is at present working with the organisation Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and Environment, said besides herself she has heard that three other girls too were sexually ! harassed by the same judge.

She claimed to have knowledge of another four girls who were allegedly harassed by other judges in their chambers.