New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has constituted a separate Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Arun Mishra, using his administrative powers, to deal with the alleged molestation charge levelled on him by a former employee. In another development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to advocate Utsav Bains, who has alleged that there is a conspiracy to frame CJI Gogoi.
Bains has claimed in his affidavit that a person had approached him with offer of a hefty amount to take up the case of the woman allegedly molested and victimised by the CJI and also hold a presser at the Press Club of India. Bains has further claimed that he came to know of the conspiracy against the CJI from “certain fixers” engaged in illegally managing judgments in exchange for cash.’’
These ‘fixers’ are allegedly behind this plot as the CJI has taken decisive action to crack down on them, it is claimed. Every “source” he met in this regard had “only the knowledge of the conspiracy against CJI, but not the names of the persons involved in hatching and executing the said conspiracy,” says the affidavit.
It alleges that “a corporate entity, in league with certain fixers, had allegedly conspired to frame the CJI in the false case of sexual harassment, creating a situation wherein he was forced to resign.’’ Nowhere does Bains name the corporate entity, but the court corridors were agog with speculation that it could be an industrial honcho, who is in news for all the wrong reasons.
Since Bains was not present, the Bench issued a notice, asking him to produce in the court the material in support of the averments he had made in his affidavit and be present in the court on Wednesday. Since the lawyer has expressed apprehension about his safety, the Bench also directed Delhi Police Commissioner to provide him adequate police protection and ensure his presence in the court on Wednesday.
This was the second hearing in the case registered by the court’s own motion, with the subject title being “Matter of Great Public Importance Touching upon the Independence of Judiciary – Mentioned by Shri Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India.’’
Those who appeared in the hearing on Tuesday were Attorney General K K Venugopal, Additional Solicitor General Vikramajit Banerjee, senior advocates Ms Indira Jaising, R Balasubramaniam, Rakesh Kumar Khanna, Pradeep Kumar Rai and five other advocates.
