It is unlikely that those who, in the first place, instigated a former woman employee of the Supreme Court to allege sexual harassment by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will respect any inquiry which does not confirm the charge. Therefore, the clean chit given to the CJI by a three-member inquiry panel headed by Justice S A Bobde on Monday was promptly dismissed as an eyewash. The panel, including Justices Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee, was set up after a former clerical employee had alleged sexual harassment by the CJI. Then incident allegedly happened in October last year.
In her 28-page complaint on April 19, sent to all judges of the apex court, she alleged that she was removed from service after she declined to submit to CJI Gogoi’s sexual advances. The CJI had hurriedly convened a three-member bench to express disgust at being so maligned and afterwards withdrew from the proceedings immediately. An in-house inquiry panel headed by Justice Bobde, senior most after the CJI, was constituted. The complainant appeared before it on two days. However, later she shot off a letter, saying that she felt inadequate to represent herself and insisted on being represented by a lawyer. Her request was declined.
CJI Gogoi too appeared before the inquiry panel and represented himself without the aid of a lawyer. The panel submitted its report to Justice Arun Mishra, the third most senior judge after CJI. The committee found no truth in the complaint. Predictably, those who had encouraged her to accuse the CJI of sexual harassment immediately rubbished the panel finding. The complainant, as usual speaking through the `office of Prashant Bhushan,’ said in her reaction that she was ‘highly disappointed and dejected.’ She talked of gross injustice to her as a woman by the inquiry panel. It was not clear what next step she would be asked to take by those in whose hands she has become a pawn, but on Tuesday a clutch of lawyers and others held a noisy protest against the CJI and the ‘denial of justice to the woman-complainant’ outside the Supreme Court complex.
After sometime, they were dispersed by the police while a small group was hauled up to the police station. Meanwhile, the controversy caused at least one judge to break ranks for him to voice dissent against the procedure adopted by the inquiry panel. Justice D Y Chandrachud wrote to the panel suggesting that the complainant be allowed to be represented by a lawyer. His letter immediately found its way into the media. Following the dismissal of the charge of sexual harassment on Monday by the inquiry panel, a majority of judges expressed solidarity with the CJI. Justice Chandrachud was isolated. The reaction of the vested interests and others to the clean chit given to CJI Gogoi indicates that it is unlikely that it would settle the issue.
For, those backing the complainant have their own axe to grind. They would like to intimidate and control the apex court. Given a large number of politically sensitive cases before it, activist lawyers trying to force the CJI on the defensive on a charge of personal misconduct can impair his independent functioning in the discharge of his judicial duties. That the Supreme Court is increasingly becoming a hub of intrigue and underhand practice is undeniable. On Monday, the CJI was surprised when the Rafale order was altered and separated from the charge of contempt of court against Rahul Gandhi. A three-member bench headed by the CJI had posted the two matters to be heard together on Monday, April 6, but when the court met on Monday only the Rafale review came up.
Someone behind the court’s back had taken out the contempt matter from the hearing on Monday. The CJI was not amused at the deceitful change in the court order. The two matters will now be heard together on April 10. A few weeks earlier, the apex court order seeking the presence of an industrialist facing recovery proceedings was altered behind its back in order to exempt the said industrialist from personal presence. The two employees of the SC registry behind the mischief had since been sacked. In short, the apex court is no longer immune from low intrigue and conspiracy in order to disrupt the fair, independent and speedy delivery of justice.
