Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Saturday convened an “extraordinary” sitting of India’s highest court after allegations by a former supreme court employee that Justice Gogoi had sexually harassed her.
The woman staffer in her mid-thirties worked at the Justice's home office and allegations date to October last year. She alleged that she was fired after she rebuffed his “sexual advances” and her husband and brother, both working in the Delhi police, were suspended. The woman also reportedly wrote to other judges of the Supreme Court of India about the allegations.
During the court hearing on Saturday, Justice Gogoi sat with two other judges and said the allegations against him were “unbelievable” and an attempt by a “bigger force to undermine the independence of the judiciary”.
“I should not stoop low even in denying it. 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 680,000 [$13,500]. Independence of judiciary is under very very serious threat. I had to tell this from the judicial seat," he said before recusing himself from the bench.
The other two judges - Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said the allegations were “wild and baseless”.
However, Justice Gogoi’s presence on the bench hearing allegations against himself has raised many eyebrows with leading lawyers and experts criticising the move. An association of the Supreme Court Advocates Justice Gogoi showed “procedural impropriety” and has called for a committee headed by the full court to impartially investigate the allegations against the chief justice of India. The Supreme Court Bar Association also echoed similar views.
According to senior lawyer Vrinda Gover “[it’s] the cardinal and basic rule of fair play that a person cannot be a judge in his own case”.
Dushyant Dave, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association wrote for The Hindu newspaper that the judges acted “against every known judicial norm and practice”.
“Under no circumstances could and should the Supreme Court have done what it did on Saturday morning. It is an institution to uphold the majesty of law, not to undermine it,” Mr Dave wrote.
“A conspiracy”
Utsav Bains, a Supreme Court lawyer, on Monday filed an affidavit in claiming he was offered $300,000 to frame a false case of sexual harassment against Justice Gogoi.
He said a man claiming to represent the former employee who has leveled allegations against the chief justice asked him to take the woman’s case on a pro bono basis.
Mr Bains said in his affidavit that he found several loopholes in the story that the man told him and that he was also evasive when he asked the person to arrange a meeting with the alleged victim of sexual harassment.
Mr Bains claimed the person then offered him money to arrange a press conference to “frame the CJI”. He said it was a conspiracy to force the CJI to resign.
