New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS)

 The union cabinet Thursday cleared the home ministry's proposal for a presidential reference to the Supreme Court for a probe into allegations of sexual harassment against Justice (retd) A.K. Ganguly.

"Proposal of the home ministry on Justice Ganguly has been approved," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters here.

The allegations were levelled by a law intern against Ganguly, who currently heads the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The proposal will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee, who will then forward the matter to the chief justice of India, seeking a probe into the issue.

Ganguly has denied the allegations and refused to resign from his post. The West Bengal chief minister has demanded his removal from the state human rights panel.