New Delhi: Another former judge of the Supreme Court has been accused of sexual harassment by a law intern who has sought action against him by the apex court.
Late on Friday night, television channels named a retired judge of the Supreme Court who is currently heading a tribunal as the subject of the complaint according to which he sexually harassed her in May, 2011 in his office when he was a sitting judge of the apex court.
He was not available for any reaction as he was said not to be at his residence where several reporters kept waiting.
Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising confirmed the name of the judge and said, "She (the intern) has reposed confidence in me. She has shared with me. I can confirm it (the judge's name). So, I can confirm he is the person named in the affidavit."
"As for the truth of the allegations, it is for the Supreme Court to decide, not for me," she said.
Senior advocate Harish Salve said he has seen the intern's complaint which he felt was 'really disturbing' as it pertained to the conduct of a judge in his pre-retirement days.
"I saw the complaint. It is really disturbing as it pertains to the conduct of a judge in his pre-retirement days," he said, adding, "it presents a real challenge to the judiciary and how it handles the situation."
The woman, who was officially interning with the judge which began in May, 2011, had recently filed a complaint with the Supreme Court along with an affidavit seeking action against him.
The court, however, refused to go into the issue citing the December 5, 2013 full-court resolution in the Justice A.K. Ganguly case making it clear that "representations made against former Judges of this Court are not entertainable by the administration of the Supreme Court."
Court sources confirmed that the intern was told that her application cannot be entertained in view of the full- court resolution and 'she was at liberty to take appropriate remedy under the law'.
Reports indicated that the intern, like the first victim, was a former student of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. She is said to be contemplating filing a petition in the apex court challenging the resolution passed by the full-court.
Jaising, who had spearheaded a campaign against Justice Ganguly demanding action against him in a similar incident, has now come out in support of the second intern.
"I am very clear that action should be taken and an inquiry should be done by the Supreme Court against the then sitting judge against whom the allegations have been levelled," she told PTI.
