SC intern harassment
The Times of India today revealed further details of the sexual harassment allegations made by a former intern (“SJ”) of ex-Supreme Court Justice AK Ganguly.
The revelation that former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly is the judge alleged to be at the heart of the apex court’s sexual harassment inquiry, has split commentators along political and institutional lines.
The three-judge probe into allegations of sex harassment against a former apex court judge, has submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), identifying Justice AK Ganguly as the alleged perpetrator.
The Supreme Court has constituted a workplace sexual harassment panel that is compliant with the so-called Vishaka guidelines, including a majority of female members and two members of civil society nominated by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
A friend of the intern (“SJ”) who deposed before three Supreme Court judges on Monday about allegations of sexual harassment against a former Supreme Court judge, told Legally India that several recent news reports about the confidential inquiry were factually inaccurate.
Tarun Tejpal, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the weekly Tehelka, has “recused” himself from his position for six months, after an allegation of him repeatedly sexually assaulting a junior journalist at the magazine.
The Women’s Rights Initiative of the Lawyers Collective NGO has filed a petition as amicus curiae (friend of the court), requesting the Supreme Court bring its internal sexual harassment guidelines into compliance with the rules laid down in its own Vishaka judgment, to regulate court internships, invite a notice requesting other victims to come forward confidentially, and more.
I have wanted to write some of these things at different times since it happened, and always shied away, argues Mihira Sood, gathering the courage to speak out about sexual harassment in the courts.
Since the allegation early this month that a “recently-retired” Supreme Court judge sexually harassed at least one intern (“SJ”), print, online and TV media news have been reporting the story’s twists and turns avidly.
The Supreme Court registry has checked the records of interns assigned to judges, on the directions of the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, allowing the court to identify the alleged former judge accused of sexual harassment, according to The Calcutta Telegraph yesterday.
The paper reported that “convention demanded that an intern work with a particular judge for only a month, the accused judge seemed to have insisted that the women interns work with him for six months”.
“According to the sources,” added the paper, “the feeling among the higher judiciary is that the judge should be named, if only to end the speculation about the other judges who retired recently. So far, the accused judge has not been named.”
The allegations against the unnamed judge first surfaced on 6 November in a blog post by a former student (“SJ”) who said she had interned with him. She expanded upon her experience in an interview with Legally India on Monday (11 November), with the CJI constituting a three-judge inquiry the following day.
SJ is expected to appear before the inquiry on Monday. [Click here for more coverage of this story]
A post on social media corroborated parts of the sexual harassment allegations against a former Supreme Court judge made by one of his former research assistants.