CJI faces molestation charge; SC holds special hearing

Was offered Rs 1.5 crore to help frame CJI Gogoi in harassment case, claims SC lawyer

Utsav Bains, a Supreme Court lawyer, said that an unidentified man approached him with a bribe of around Rs 1.5 crore to organise a media conference and “frame” the CJI Ranjan Gogoi by representing the former Supreme Court staffer who has levelled allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

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The former Supreme Court employee who had accused Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment has withdrawn from the inquiry being conducted by the in-house panel of three judges, saying that she felt she was unlikely to get any justice there.

Her withdrawal came after the panel, led by Justice SA Bobde, held its third in-chamber sitting on Monday. In the three hearings held so far, the woman said she felt intimidated as she has to appear alone and even her lawyer was not allowed to be a part of the proceedings.

In a press release, the woman said she has decided not to participate in the inquiry by the Bobde Panel as there was no support for her at the hearings despite her “impaired hearing, nervousness and fear”.

She also pointed out that there was no no video or audio recording of the committee proceedings, she was not supplied even a copy of her statements during the first two sittings on April 26 and 29 and she was not even informed about the procedure the committee was following.

The woman’s allegations against the CJI were brought into the public domain by four web portals on April 20. She had worked at Justice Gogoi’s home office in Delhi and the allegations were carried by the news portals based on her affidavit which was sent to 22 judges of the top court.

In her affidavit, the woman described two incidents of alleged harassment, days after Justice Gogoi was appointed CJI last October and her subsequent persecution.

The three-judge Supreme Court panel investigating the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has given CJI Gogoi a clean chit in the matter.

The in-house committee, which was headed by Justice SA Bobde, said that it did not find any substance in the allegations of a former Supreme Court employee who had accused CJI Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment.

A statement from the Supreme Court secretary general said the report has been submitted to “next senior judge competent to receive the report” as well as to the Chief Justice of India.

The statement said the in-house committee has found substance in the allegations made by the former Supreme Court employee. The statement also said the report filed by the panel would not be made public.