Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room http://news.rediff.com/commen

[mkrishna100]

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Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room

Live! Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room - Rediff.com India News

10:57 Live! Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room: This is what the law intern said happened between her and Justice AK Ganguly.

Spelling more trouble for the retired Supreme Court judge in the sexual harassment case, the victim has alleged that he asked her to share his room and said that he loved her.

The law intern, who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Ganguly, said this in an affidavit submitted to a three-member apex court panel probing the matter.

"The judge informed me that it may not be possible to have a separate room arranged for me, and asked me if I would stay in the same room with him," the victim said.

The complainant further added that despite her opposition, Justice Ganguly tried to come close to her, even twisted her arm and kissed her and said that he loved her.

"During the dinner, the judge put his hand on my back and thanked me for agreeing to help him. I moved away, clearly indicating to the judge that this physical contact was unwelcome and not proper behaviour on his part.

However, the judge did not remove his hand from my back, and then moved forward to embrace me. At this point, the judge approached me and, standing next to me, he put his hand on my head, and said, 'You are very beautiful'."

"I immediately rose from my seat, but before I had a chance to respond to the statement, he caught hold of my arm, saying, 'You know that I'm attracted to you, don't you? You must be thinking, what, this old man is getting drunk and saying such things. But I really like you, I love you'.

"When I tried to move away, he kissed my arm and repeated that he loved me," she said in the statement.

Based on the revelations made by the law intern in her affidavit, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought action against Ganguly.

She also demanded that Justice Ganguly must be immediately sacked as the Chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

The complainant lawyer has also alleged that at least three other girls have also faced harassment by the same judge.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stepped up pressure on Ganguly to quit as chairman of the state human rights commission. Law Minister Kapil Sibal and BJP leader Arun Jaitley have also urged the apex court to act against the judge it had indicted.

However, the judge remains defiant and has refused to quit. -- Zee News

 

[sangom]

Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room

Live! Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room - Rediff.com India News

10:57 Live! Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room: This is what the law intern said happened between her and Justice AK Ganguly.

Spelling more trouble for the retired Supreme Court judge in the sexual harassment case, the victim has alleged that he asked her to share his room and said that he loved her.

The law intern, who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Ganguly, said this in an affidavit submitted to a three-member apex court panel probing the matter.

"The judge informed me that it may not be possible to have a separate room arranged for me, and asked me if I would stay in the same room with him," the victim said.

The complainant further added that despite her opposition, Justice Ganguly tried to come close to her, even twisted her arm and kissed her and said that he loved her.

"During the dinner, the judge put his hand on my back and thanked me for agreeing to help him. I moved away, clearly indicating to the judge that this physical contact was unwelcome and not proper behaviour on his part.

However, the judge did not remove his hand from my back, and then moved forward to embrace me. At this point, the judge approached me and, standing next to me, he put his hand on my head, and said, 'You are very beautiful'."

"I immediately rose from my seat, but before I had a chance to respond to the statement, he caught hold of my arm, saying, 'You know that I'm attracted to you, don't you? You must be thinking, what, this old man is getting drunk and saying such things. But I really like you, I love you'.

"When I tried to move away, he kissed my arm and repeated that he loved me," she said in the statement.

Based on the revelations made by the law intern in her affidavit, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought action against Ganguly.

She also demanded that Justice Ganguly must be immediately sacked as the Chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

The complainant lawyer has also alleged that at least three other girls have also faced harassment by the same judge.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stepped up pressure on Ganguly to quit as chairman of the state human rights commission. Law Minister Kapil Sibal and BJP leader Arun Jaitley have also urged the apex court to act against the judge it had indicted.

However, the judge remains defiant and has refused to quit. -- Zee News

If this 66 years' young (!) justice of the supreme court is capable only of this much self-restraint and decorum, then perhaps the Nirbhaya accused deserved a more lenient punishment!

But Shri Ganguly excels in his insensitivity when it is needed; see "However, the judge remains defiant and has refused to quit."

 

[sarang]

One has to be careful when hanky panky is planned. Both calls and messages can be recorded with date time stamp and used as evidence or for blackmail. If the intern has saved the messages sent by the ex judge (claim) then escape will be difficult.

 

[mkrishna100]

How can it come out in the open: Justice Ganguly on girl's affidavit
How can it come out in the open: Justice Ganguly on girl's affidavit - Rediff.com India News
With Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising making excerpts from the law intern's affidavit public, former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly, accused of sexually harassing the intern, today questioned how could a confidential statement be made public.

"That is supposed to be confidential as it was given before a Supreme Court committee. How can it come out in the open?," questioned Ganguly, a former Supreme Court judge.

When asked whether he would complain about this, the retired judge told PTI, "What can I do? Who is listening to me?"He refused to comment on the girl's affidavit, as published in a national daily, saying, "I will not say anything on this".

The girl, who has passed out from a Kolkata law school, had in a sworn affidavit before a three-judge panel of apex court judges gave a detailed account of what happened to her in a Delhi hotel room on 24 December, 2012 when she was called by the judge at night.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

I never knew that touching the head, patting the back

and a peck on the cheek by a super senior

can be projected as sexual harassment! :shocked:

The girl was asked to share his room ...NOT his bed!!! :nono:

 

[sarang]

The preferred and right route is filing fir by the victim, or the police/government/kapil cibal, investigation and then charge sheeting. This has been recommended by sc judge, somnath chatterjee, swamy and many others. The supreme court too can initiate investigation by any competent authority. This is not acceptable to the womens' commission and political parties, and want the judge to resign or his dismissal by the president. Ganguli says he is the victim and is innocent; asg jaisingh can make his affidavit too public and make the fight even.

Ganguli has taken the stand that he is innocent, has given his version in his affidavit, will not resign, resist pressure and fight to the end.

 

[Brahmanyan]

Law intern: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room http://news.rediff.com/commen

I never knew that touching the head, patting the back
and a peck on the cheek by a super senior
can be projected as sexual harassment! :shocked:
The girl was asked to share his room ...NOT his bed!!! :nono:

Well said Maam,

The Judge seems to be a victim of circumstances. If patting on the back and expressing his appreciation
for helping and peck on the hand is sexual harassment, I do not know what to say. Surprisingly the ASG has revealed the contents of the sworn affidavit to the media without any reason.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[Nara]

Well said Maam,

The Judge seems to be a victim of circumstances. If patting on the back and expressing his appreciation

The sentiments expressed by my fellow geisers make me puke, lol. If these people are some 50 years younger and if a powerful older person comes on to them touching them inappropriately, telling them he/she is attracted to them, trying to hug and kiss them, will they be so willing to say, well done old person? Ganguly occupied a position of power, and he took advantage. Read the account again you old people, would you do any of these things Ganguly is supposed to have done? Think, would you still blindly support this old pervert?

 

[tks]

Is the case only about 'he said' , 'she said' ...
Does the intern rumored to have any other forms of proof?

 

[vgane]

Is the case only about 'he said' , 'she said' ...
Does the intern rumored to have any other forms of proof?

The surprising thing in this episode is that the intern has come with this allegation after almost one year!

 

[sarang]

Intern claims she got a few calls and an apology text message next morning; and three people she talked to (may be hostelites or colleagues from the ngo or from the organisation for whom the report was prepared.)

Against factors are - she is an activist working for an ngo, naxal sympathiser, a christian ready to work on christmas eve. Delay in disclosure and timing create suspicion. Mamta bannerje is dead against ganguli.

In a recent tv panel discussions, swamy must have given some points why ganguli must not be asked to resign, but follow the legal route - fir, investigation, charge sheet etc. I saw only the second half of the program when he was not allowed to answer the collective allegations made against him by jaisingh, vrinda grover, ms krishnan (some leftist ngo). He could voice only a few statements - naxalites believe in free sex, to arnab's 'where is your morality', he quipped we will talk about radia tapes and morality of media, and called arnab ignoramous of law.

The tv guys call him but never give him enough time as otehrs to put his views and counter other's points.

If a sting operation is done with a young lady leading, anything can happen. Recent case was one bhandarkar, a film producer/director. When his wife was away from town, the young maid was compromised, the girl cried rape, he was arrested. The guy was eventually cleared by the court. The act was concentual, girl's relatives pushed her to file a case and blackmail bhandarkar. Even the guy's wife supported him.

Is the case only about 'he said' , 'she said' ...
Does the intern rumored to have any other forms of proof?

 

[Nara]

Ganguli case -- so many issues, why did she wait so long, he only wanted to touch her head (never mind all the other gory details), she is NGO, she is naxalite sympathizer, etc., etc.

Tarun Tejpal case -- why is he still walking free, arrest him, put him in jail, throw away the key ...

Why the double standard?

If the accounts are true, and a priori they seem to be true in both cases, and so it is an easy case to make that these two guys are creeps. Both deserve due process of the law, but no more. If prima facie case has been established Ganguly must step aside, like Tejpal has been made to, and await trial. If exonerated, given the verdict in the case of Sankararan case this possibility is real possibility however strong the evidence may be, then they can take their old positions back.

 

[zebra16]

Ganguli case -- so many issues, why did she wait so long, he only wanted to touch her head (never mind all the other gory details), she is NGO, she is naxalite sympathizer, etc., etc.

Tarun Tejpal case -- why is he still walking free, arrest him, put him in jail, throw away the key ...

Why the double standard?

If the accounts are true, and a priori they seem to be true in both cases, and so it is an easy case to make that these two guys are creeps. Both deserve due process of the law, but no more. If prima facie case has been established Ganguly must step aside, like Tejpal has been made to, and await trial. If exonerated, given the verdict in the case of Sankararan case this possibility is real possibility however strong the evidence may be, then they can take their old positions back.

Is the double standards from only one side? Look you cried foul when the Courts cleared Sankaracharya and you wanted him to prove his innocence all over again. Just one post prior to yours, i.e. message # 11 the poster has given another instance of the Court clearing Sri Madhur Bhandarkar of molestation charges.

In keeping with your standards, you should have asked for proof of innocence from the film producer too. But he apparently is a nobody to you and you give the post just a go by.

When others do, it is a double standard..... when you practice it is a rational action.

 

[Nara]

Is the double standards from only one side? Look you cried foul when the Courts cleared Sankaracharya and you wanted him to prove his innocence all over again. Just one post prior to yours, i.e. message # 11 the poster has given another instance of the Court clearing Sri Madhur Bhandarkar of molestation charges.

In keeping with your standards, you should have asked for proof of innocence from the film producer too. But he apparently is a nobody to you and you give the post just a go by.

When others do, it is a double standard..... when you practice it is a rational action.

Hey zebra, I am not familiar with Bhandarkar case.

I have been consistent in the other three cases -- in the two cases involving sexual harassment, on the side of the victim while granting due process of the law to the accused.

Sankarachariyar's case is slightly different because the court as already passed judgement. My beef, ahem, வெண்டைக்காய் is the crowing that he has been proven innocent, that is clearly not the case. My arguments can be seen in full in the other thread.

Alright, I have explained myself, it is now your turn, why are you and your teammates so eager to hang one creep from the nearest available tree, but in the case of the other creep change the topic to the victim and somehow discredit her? But then, you are a zebra, ready to take flight at the sight of a lion, I am sure I won't hear from you until you are sure this exchange is forgotten.

 

[sangom]

I think it will be good if Justice Ganguly sticks to his present position and comes out successful, because, it now looks as though any female could just go on to the facebook and build up a story about any male whom she had met even years earlier. For example, had Gandhi/Vivekananda been alive today, some creep of a woman could go write a story about him and get him charged with sexual assault. That sort of a situation has to be avoided.

 

[mkrishna100]

I think it will be good if Justice Ganguly sticks to his present position and comes out successful, because, it now looks as though any female could just go on to the facebook and build up a story about any male whom she had met even years earlier. For example, had Gandhi/Vivekananda been alive today, some creep of a woman could go write a story about him and get him charged with sexual assault. That sort of a situation has to be avoided.

To avoid this situation all Institutions ( Public/Private ) must have an internal mechanism on the basis of the VISHAKA GUIDELINES to handle issues relating to sexual harassment at Workplace . It must be made mandatory for everyone joining any workforce in Public /Private to be educated on this at the start of their career itself about what constitutes sexual harassment at workforce , what are the grey areas in a male female relationship at workforce and how they must handle the same . Also it should be pointed out that if a person while working refuse to register the compliant of sexual harassment in the available forum in her place of work and after a year or so chooses to go to a public forum to express the same then such a complaint should not be entertained .

In this regard I wish to point out that during this year IPL 2013 ( where 3 players from Rajasthan Royals were caught for spot fixing ) there was an interview in Thanti TV with BCCI President N . Srinivsan and he made it very clear that every player who is inducted in to the team are clearly made aware of how bookies will approach them , how to avoid strangers and if approached what they should do and they have conducted special workshops on the same and they are explained each clause of the Anti Corruption Laws of ICC and made sure they understand the same ( he stressed that they are explained clause by clause ) and if inspite of all these a person gets caught in the trap of a Bookie then he has to blame himself . Same with the case of Doping they are well educated .
I feel the same needs to be done with regard to educating people on Sexual Misconduct at workplace and its consequence . As far as India is concerned Right now there is neither any education on the same nor any professional mechanism inside Organizations to handle sexual misconduct at workplace and hence people choose to come out to the Media and shame the persons and Media also enjoys shaming these people for their own TRP Ratings .

 

[zebra16]

Hey zebra, I am not familiar with Bhandarkar case.

The familiarity with the case has never been a pre-requisite for you.. To cite an example, you have been making posts on Sankararaman murder case for nearly 4 years now and acknowledged for the first time that you were not in know of the key points here:

Msg # 208 : http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/genera...racharya-jayendra-saraswati-acquitted-21.html


when you said:

(quote)

Dear auh, couple of points,

[1] You have a valid point about ICICI bank and !important]money payment]. I am satisfied with your answer

(unquote)

The fact of the matter was that it was way back in 2005 that it was informed by prosecution in Supreme Court that there was no bank account in ICICI Bank of the maTam.

It didnt stop you even one bit in commenting on the case without basic knowledge or fundas of allegation.

Sankarachariyar's case is slightly different because the court as already passed judgement. My beef, ahem, வெண்டைக்காய் is the crowing that he has been proven innocent, that is clearly not the case. My arguments can be seen in full in the other thread.

You are resorting to vedhALam and murungai maRam tactics. In the same thread it is also conclusively brought to everyone's attention that in Indian legal parlance "Not Guilty" is equal to "Innocent"

Alright, I have explained myself, it is now your turn, why are you and your teammates so eager to hang one creep from the nearest available tree, but in the case of the other creep change the topic to the victim and somehow discredit her?

Two things become clear from the above remarks. You tom tom about "Issues" but personalize the issue and attack the person.

You would be hard pressed to find a even single post of mine supporting one creep or another or one creep over another because I havent supported either "creep".

The grouping of posters into "your group" or "my group" shows a strong tendency of your binary logic and inability to address the issue rather than the person.

But then, you are a zebra, ready to take flight at the sight of a lion, I am sure I won't hear from you until you are sure this exchange is forgotten.

This comment is so silly that you would yourselves laugh at your silliness when you read it for the second time.

 

[sangom]

To avoid this situation all Institutions ( Public/Private ) must have an internal mechanism on the basis of the VISHAKA GUIDELINES to handle issues relating to sexual harassment at Workplace . It must be made mandatory for everyone joining any workforce in Public /Private to be educated on this at the start of their career itself about what constitutes sexual harassment at workforce , what are the grey areas in a male female relationship at workforce and how they must handle the same . Also it should be pointed out that if a person while working refuse to register the compliant of sexual harassment in the available forum in her place of work and after a year or so chooses to go to a public forum to express the same then such a complaint should not be entertained .

In this regard I wish to point out that during this year IPL 2013 ( where 3 players from Rajasthan Royals were caught for spot fixing ) there was an interview in Thanti TV with BCCI President N . Srinivsan and he made it very clear that every player who is inducted in to the team are clearly made aware of how bookies will approach them , how to avoid strangers and if approached what they should do and they have conducted special workshops on the same and they are explained each clause of the Anti Corruption Laws of ICC and made sure they understand the same ( he stressed that they are explained clause by clause ) and if inspite of all these a person gets caught in the trap of a Bookie then he has to blame himself . Same with the case of Doping they are well educated .
I feel the same needs to be done with regard to educating people on Sexual Misconduct at workplace and its consequence . As far as India is concerned Right now there is neither any education on the same nor any professional mechanism inside Organizations to handle sexual misconduct at workplace and hence people choose to come out to the Media and shame the persons and Media also enjoys shaming these people for their own TRP Ratings .

Shri Krishna,

I agree with whatever you have said, but don't you see that Ganguly case is different in vital details? The long delay in the law intern coming out with her complaint and then she being able to give such minute details of whatever happened one year ago looks unnatural to me. Such allegations can come against any decent man if he happens to be travelling quite a bit and there are women whom he meets as part of his day-to-day job. What will you do if you are caught like Ganguly and there is no truth in the whole story except that you happened to meet that lady in your hotel room on the said date & time? How will you disprove the story?

 

[mkrishna100]

Shri Krishna,

I agree with whatever you have said, but don't you see that Ganguly case is different in vital details? The long delay in the law intern coming out with her complaint and then she being able to give such minute details of whatever happened one year ago looks unnatural to me. Such allegations can come against any decent man if he happens to be travelling quite a bit and there are women whom he meets as part of his day-to-day job. What will you do if you are caught like Ganguly and there is no truth in the whole story except that you happened to meet that lady in your hotel room on the said date & time? How will you disprove the story?

Sangom Sir

My suggestions are exactly to avoid situations like the one Justice Ganguly is facing now . It is high time we wake up to this new reality of dealing with sexual exploitation at the workplace - have an internal professional body to handle it otherwise it will come out in the open and haunt you for ur lifetime like it happened for Tarun Tejpal and now Justice Ganguly .
As regards Ganguly I do not know whether the Powers at the top are taking their revenge for his dealing with the 2G Case as the Judge of the Case during his tenure .
BTW What happened to Tarun Tejpal and his case ? The Media has gone silent over the same now ?

 

[renuka]

I never knew that touching the head, patting the back

and a peck on the cheek by a super senior

can be projected as sexual harassment! :shocked:

The girl was asked to share his room ...NOT his bed!!! :nono:

????

VR ji,

Sharing a room is bad enough....you can never trust any male no matter how super senior...BTW I dont think peck on the cheek is a accepted way to display junior and senior relationship in India.

 

[Nara]

....This comment is so silly that you would yourselves laugh at your silliness when you read it for the second time.

Finally I got a response from zebra, see, it doesn't hurt, nobody will eat the zebra alive!!!

See Zebra I asked why there is double standard and you are the only one said anything, that too blamed me of the same -- aside: you know you-too is not even a high school argument, it is kindergarten argument -- so, I explained my consistent.

If you say I have given inconsistent answers in the past, two things (a) I am sorry, please let me know when and where, I will try to answer the charge either by providing a rebuttal, or conceding and apologizing, and (b) that does not change anything here.

You say I cannot find anything inconsistent from your posts, if so, good for you, but there have been many here who were very critical of Tarun Tejpal -- rightly IMO except a few went overboard -- but in Ganguly's case questioning the victim. This inconsistency remains unanswered while you keep piling on me.

So, let us get back to the topic, why this double standard between Tarun Tejpal and Ganguly?

 

[tks]

????

VR ji,

Sharing a room is bad enough....you can never trust any male no matter how super senior...BTW I dont think peck on the cheek is a accepted way to display junior and senior relationship in India.

The assumption in the above statement is that the women's story is already validated. I have not followed the case to know this for sure.
In today's environment poor women get exploited with powerful men getting away easily all the time.

There are also cases where women tend to be more cunning than the stupid men who lose their sense of self worth when they are blinded by desire.

I am reminded about the US case of Professor Anita Hill against now Supreme Court Justice Thomas. I watched live the hearings in October 1991 since it was a media circus. While I personally did not like this fellow Thomas and do not think he is qualified I tended to be more sympathetic to him with respect to the specific charges.

Some women know how to manipulate a situation to get what they want and then when things do not go their way could turn around and bring a case that can destroy a person.

If it is true that this Justice Ganguly misbehaved he should be punished well. But before jumping into conclusion in a case like this it is important to find out if the women has credibility and facts. This is needed so that genuine cases do not get harmed in the future.

Many men who want to have affairs rarely care who it is with. If one is not available they move on to another unless they are pathological in which case there may be more instances of such harassment behavior with other women . A women tend to be more particular and will go after a single guy.

So without investigation into why this women was silent for a whole year, what other proofs she can bring to her story and why she is doing this now, it is best to not form any opinion.

 

[biswa]

Sexual harassment may be morally despicable but I am not sure it is criminal. In the US workplace sexual harassment will get somebody fired, but not necessarily arrested (unless physical force is involved). Even making a pass, as disgusting as it may sound, is not a criminal act, even in India. Why is a declaration of love, not just an unwanted romantic overture? Why should the age of the concerned people matter?

 

[Nara]

Sexual harassment may be morally despicable but I am not sure it is criminal. In the US workplace sexual harassment will get somebody fired, but not necessarily arrested (unless physical force is involved). Even making a pass, as disgusting as it may sound, is not a criminal act, even in India. Why is a declaration of love, not just an unwanted romantic overture? Why should the age of the concerned people matter?

biswa, you can't make a blanket statement like this. It varies from country to country, and it depends on the nature of sexual harassment.

Take a look at this site, they cite two cases one in France and one in China where work place sexual harassment resulted in criminal conviction and prison.

Workplace Sexual Harassment as a Crime

Then there is the case of San Diego Mayor who plead guilty to sexual harassment charges. Like Ganguly and his apologists, he also originally claimed he was just being nice to the ladies and being friendly.

What Tarun Tejpal is alleged to have done is certainly criminal, it is rape.

In the case of Ganguly, it is unwanted touching like hugging/attempting to kiss, both of which have been alleged, then, in the U.S., a criminal case could be made out, it depends -- the more severe, the more persistent, the more prevalent i.e. several victims, which is also alleged in this case, then criminal charges is almost certain to be made.

Age of the concerned people does not matter if both are adult. But if one party is underage, even consent does not matter, the older party will be charged, a case in point -- the Florida teenage lesbian going to jail for a romantic relationship with a younger girl. Of course in Ganguly's case both are adults and therefore age does not matter.

 

[tks]

Sexual harassment is illegal meaning in many countries it is an offense that is punishable.

There are many things that a person exposed to unwanted advances can do - here is an example.

At a minimum they should keep detailed record even if it is like a journal. Also it is important there is some way to show reasonable attempts were made to provide feedback that the moves are unwelcome. Barring these actions especially by a legal professional it is just a 'he said she said' case.

The world has become so crazy that a woman recently advised her son to get consent for premarital sex before the act to cover himself from unscrupulous women.