The former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.K. Ganguly, must not resign from the chairmanship of West Bengal Human Rights Commission in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him as it would set a “dangerous precedent,” former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee has said.
“No. I don’t think so. Because he says these allegations are baseless. Why should he? … We are in the realm of accusations,” Mr. Sorabjee said when asked by Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s Devil’s Advocate programme whether Justice Ganguly, who was accused of sexual harassment by a young law intern, should resign from the rights panel.
“Suppose it transpires that these allegations were unfounded … Suppose that happens. Should he resign now as Chairman of the Human Rights Commission? If your logic is accepted, anyone in an important position must resign when an allegation is made, which the man denies.”
‘Tejpal desperate’
When asked about the claim of Tehelka Editor-in-Chief Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a colleague, that the accusation was part of a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP to entrap him, Mr. Sorabjee said it only showed the journalist’s “desperation and confusion.”
“There is no slander. It has not done Tarun any good … that shows his desperation, his confusion, his probable desperation. I am afraid he is going to pay the price for that.”
Mr. Tejpal, the veteran lawyer said, had acted foolishly in the entire episode. “He was not only foolish, he was confused and he fairly behaved in a manner which did harm to his own cause.”
Asked about the contradictions and inconsistencies in the journalist’s statements, he said: “He has made certain statements in the flip-flops, which I think Tarun should have avoided. I don’t understand … I have not examined the case in detail, there are many flip-flops, there are inconsistencies in his statement, these inconsistencies don’t sound credible.”
