Union cabinet clears Presidential Reference for AK Ganguly’s removal

The union cabinet on Thursday gave a green signal to the home ministry’s proposal for sending a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court in connection with the alleged sexual harassment case against retired judge AK Ganguly. Speaking to media persons, finance minister P Chidambaram and I&B minister Manish Tewari confirmed the clearance given by the cabinet on Justice Ganguly issue. Earlier in the day, the cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh gave approval for reference after the home ministry placed the views of Attorney General GE Vahanvati who has noted that a case can be made out against Justice Ganguly following allegations of “sexual harassment” towards a woman law intern. The proposal has already been sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee who will refer it to the Chief Justice of India seeking a probe into allegations slapped by the intern.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been seeking Ganguly’s removal as chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission. She wrote a letter to the President requesting his intervention.