Law college dissociates itself from Ganguly

Kolkata: West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) on Thursday said it has 'dissociated' itself from its honorary professor Justice (Retd) A K Ganguly accused of sexually harassing a student who had worked as an intern under him.

"We have decided to dissociate ourselves from him. Our executive council, the university's highest decision-making body, will take a final call next month on what other action can be taken in this matter," WBNUJS spokesperson Ruchira Goswami said.

The premier law institute's faculty members had yesterday written to vice-chancellor P Ishwara Bhatt saying Ganguly's continued association with the institution undermines the ideals of NUJS that has always strived to teach and foster justice, including gender justice.

"We believe that the position of a professor is that of trust and requires that such person be above reproach, especially above allegations of misbehaviour with students, particularly when such allegations have been found to have prima facie merit by a high-level committee," a group of 12 faculty members had said in a statement.

As an honorary professor of WBNUJS, Ganguly used to attend guest lectures besides supporting other academic activities. Following indictment by a three-member panel of Supreme Court judges over the intern's allegation, he is also facing strident demands to step down as the chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC).

When contacted, Ganguly refused to comment on the matter saying, "I am not supposed to tell you".