Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly

Calcutta, Sept. 3: Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly, who was forced to resign from the helm of the Bengal human rights commission, today said that at “the head of the government is someone who claims to be the symbol of honesty” and “the honesty” had been put to question.

The thinly veiled remark came at a forum where the former Supreme Court judge was invited to speak. The event at the Press Club was organised by the Chit Fund Sufferers’ Association — an evocative name in a state where the Saradha scandal is threatening to bring out more skeletons.

The comments came two days after a disclosure that Saradha had struck a tour deal with the Indian Railways when Mamata Banerjee headed the utility.

“At the head of the government is someone who claims to be the symbol of honesty. But now that the honesty has been put to question, all sorts of conspiracy theories are being floated,” Justice Ganguly said.

“The state should never have opposed the CBI probe into the Saradha scam…. Now that the CBI investigation is on, a lot of evidence seems to have disappeared. This process should have begun much earlier,” the former judge said. “The state government’s role is not something you can call transparent.”

Justice Ganguly also referred to the railway controversy. “The railways is a heritage institution, looked up to by the masses for its credibility. That was also jeopardised by associating with this company which had been in existence for just three years,” he said.

Sharing the dais with the former judge were known Mamata-baiters like Left leaders Asim Chatterjee and Sujan Chakraborty and academician Sunanda Sanyal.

The Bengal government had sought Ganguly’s removal from the rights panel after an intern alleged sexual misconduct. The intern has not filed a police complaint and the veracity of the allegation is yet to be established.

This is the first time since he stepped down as the head of the rights panel eight months ago that Justice Ganguly has spoken publicly against the government.

Justice Ganguly had earned the chief minister’s wrath by recommending compensation to a professor who was arrested for allegedly circulating an Internet joke.

He had also recommended compensation to a farmer who had been arrested for asking the chief minister about fertiliser prices.

Asked what prompted his remarks, Justice Ganguly said: “I have said whatever I had to at the forum.”

Trinamul all-India general secretary Mukul Roy, who had yesterday said such railway deals did not take place when he was the minister, was not available for comment today.

Asked about Justice Ganguly’s comments, a senior minister in the state said: “I am not saying a word. Don’t even write my name.”