Ex Top Court Employee Alleges Sexual Harassment by CJI Gogoi
NEW DELHI : In an “extraordinary and unusual hearing” presided over by him and called at a moment’s notice on Saturday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi took on the allegation of sexual harassment published against him by some online news portals, saying “things have gone too far” and “the judiciary cannot be made a scapegoat.”
“Why do you think a person decides to become a judge? Reputation is all that matters for a judge. If that is also under attack, what is left?” he asked.
“This is unbelievable. I should not stoop low even in denying it. Rs. 6.8 lakh is all I have as bank balance… They cannot catch me on money, so they have brought up this. This is the reward a Chief Justice of India gets after 20 years and a bank balance of Rs. 6.8 lakh. Independence of judiciary is under very very serious threat. I had to tell this from the judicial seat,” he said.
Justice Arun Mishra, who along with Justice Sanjeev Khanna formed the CJI’s companion judges on the Bench, termed the allegation “wild and baseless”.Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi strongly denied allegations of sexual harassment and said the independence of the judiciary is “under threat” and it “cannot be made a scapegoat”.
“This is unbelievable. I don’t think I should stoop low even to deny these allegations,” the Chief Justice, who was heading the three judge bench, said during the hearing, and added he will not pass any orders and the senior most judge Arun Mishra will dictate the order. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi alleged a conspiracy behind the allegations and said, “There has to be bigger force behind this, they want to deactivate office of Chief Justice”.
The Chief Justice said the allegations had cropped up as he is scheduled to hear important cases in the Supreme Court next week. “I will sit on this chair and discharge my judicial functions without any fear… Things have gone too far. Judiciary cannot be made a scapegoat,” he said.
Chief Justice Gogoi said since there can be no corruption allegations against him, “people have to find something and they have found this”.”After 20 years of selfless service as judge, I have bank balance of Rs. 6.80 lakh. My peon has more money than that… Is this a reward the Chief Justice gets after 20 years,” he asked.
The Chief Justice said the woman who made the allegations against him has a criminal background and that there are two police cases against her.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the allegations appear to be a blackmail technique.
The special bench of Chief Justice Gogoi, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjeev Khanna refrained from passing any judicial order “at this stage” and said they “leave it to the discretion of the media to exercise restraint and act responsibly.””Faith of people in judiciary will be shaken by such unscrupulous allegations,” Justice Mishra said.
The affidavit also provides a chilling, Kafkaesque account of the apparent victimisation she, her husband and their family have undergone over the past few months – ever since she spurned what she claimed were inappropriate advances last October.
The secretary general of the Supreme Court, in a common email sent to reporters who had contacted Justice Gogoi to get his response to the former employee’s charges, said the allegations by the woman – who served as a junior court assistant in Justice Gogoi’s court for two years, from October, 2016 to October, 2018 – were “completely and absolutely false and scurrilous and are totally denied.”
The top court said further judicial orders will be passed at a later stage.(With Agency Inputs ).
