New Delhi: A 3-judge in-house committee of the Supreme Court on Monday cleared Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of the alleged sexual harassment charge levelled against him by a former junior court assistant. The in-house procedure is not liable to be made public as per the court’s verdict in another case dating back to 2003. This means the inquiry report will not be shared with the complainant either. A small 2-paragraph note mounted on the court website merely says: “The in-house committee has found no substance in the allegations contained in the complaint.’’
The complainant said “gross injustice” had been done to her and she was “dejected and disappointed” with the outcome. “My worst fears have come true and all hope of justice and redress from the highest court of the land have been shattered. I will consult my lawyer and decide on the next steps. Today, I am at the verge of losing faith in the idea of justice,” the woman said in a statement.
The former employee appeared before the committee for two days to state her case but later boycotted it on the ground that she won’t get justice, particularly when she was not allowed a lawyer to plead her case. The committee, however, went ahead and completed the inquiry, summoning even CJI Gogoi to record his version. The woman had alleged that CJI Gogoi twice tried to harass her sexually during her posting at his residence; later, he not only got her dismissed but also harassed her husband and brother-in-law posted in Delhi Police.
The in-house committee has, in accordance with the procedure, submitted the report to the next senior judge competent to receive the report and also sent a copy to the judge concerned, namely the Chief Justice of India (CJI).” Since CJI Ranjan Gogoi is also the next senior judge as the committee was headed by No 2 judge Sharad Arvind Bobde, the report was submitted only to him. A lawyer said the committee was constituted by the full Bench of the Supreme Court and hence it would have been better for the committee to have submitted the report to the full Bench.
Former Supreme Court Judge A K Patnaik, who had retired in July 2014, will now start probing the charge levelled by junior lawyer Utsav Singh Bains about a racket being run in the court to manipulate Benches. Bains has also described the sexual charges levelled against the CJI as part of this bench fixing racket. After his appointment by a 3-judge Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra on April 25, Justice Patnaik had said he would start the probe only after the in-house committee completes its work. Besides Justice Bobde, who hails from Nagpur and who is to be the next CJI for two years and six months after Gogoi retires on November 17, the other two judges on the committee were: Justices Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra.
