New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) A former law intern who accused former Supreme Court Judge A.K. Ganguly of sexual harassment has said that she would “pursue appropriate proceedings at appropriate times”.
“I request that it be acknowledged that I have the discernment to pursue appropriate proceedings at appropriate times. I ask that my autonomy be respected fully,” she said in her blog on the Legally India website.
“I would like to state that I have acted with utmost responsibility throughout, keeping in mind the seriousness of this situation. Those who have been spreading rumours and politicising the issue, are doing so out of prejudice and malice to obfuscate the issue and escape scrutiny and accountability,” she wrote.
The intern said that those who have been spreading rumours and politicizing the issue are doing so “out of prejudice” and “malice to obfuscate the issue”.
The graduate of Kolkata-based National University of Judicial Sciences (NUJS) had alleged sexual harassment by the now retired apex court judge while she was interning with him in December 2012.
The young lawyer also criticised the retired judge for denying the charge and terming it revenge for his past judgements.
She clarified that she blogged about the incident as she felt it was “important to warn young law students that status and position should not be confused for standards of morality and ethics”.
Her comments came a day after Justice Ganguly wrote an eight-page letter to Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam denying that he had sexually harassed the intern. He alleged there was a palpable design to malign him because of the “judgements he had given against powerful quarters”.
The intern said that any one claiming that her statements were false was showing disrespect not just to her but also to the Supreme Court.
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.