Three-member panel formed to inquire into sexual harassment charges against CJI Ranjan Gogoi, notice issued to complainant for hearing

Justice SA Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed on Tuesday to conduct an in-house inquiry into the sexual harassment charges against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Justicr Bobde is next to the CJI in seniority and has been appointed by the CJI (due to his seniority), to look into the charges.

He told PTI that he decided to form a panel by including two Supreme Court judges – Justice NV Ramana and Justice Indira Banerjee. Justice Ramana is next to Justice Bobde in seniority and Justice Banerjee was made part of the panel for being a woman judge.

Serious charges were levelled against the CJI by a 35-year-old woman last week. The woman, who used to work as junior court assistant at the Supreme Court wrote to 22 judges of the court on April 19 alleging that the CJI had made sexual advances on her in his residential office on October 10 and 11, 2018.

On April 20, a special sitting took place in the Supreme Court on the matter. The CJI has said: “This is unbelievable. I should not stoop low even in denying it.”  He was even quoted saying, “What I want to tell citizens is that judiciary of this country is under serious threat”. He added that “I will sit on this Bench and discharge my duties without fear and favour till my tenure is over”.

The court assistant, in the affidavit addressed to the Court has alleged that following the incident, she was terminated unceremoniously from her post, and she and her family had to undergo huge harassment and eventually, an FIR was slapped against her and her family in March this year.

The three-member panel to probe the allegations, has now issued a notice to the woman and has asked her to be present on April 26 for the first hearing. The apex court secretary general has also been asked to be ready with all documents and materials. It will be an in-house procedure that wouldn’t require representation of advocates on behalf of parties, Justice Bobde has told PTI.

The panel was formed after criticism from several quarters that the CJI-led bench had a special sitting on the matter. Some lawyers condemned the procedure openly because the CJI was part of the bench in which allegations had been levelled against him.