What is the controversy surrounding CJI?
The Supreme Court's three-judge panel will review Advocate Utsav Bains' assertions. He contends that the allegations made by a former junior officer of the court alleging sexual harassment by the Chief Justice of India are false and driven by a bigger plot by businesspeople and dishonest political figures to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
A former subordinate court officer accused Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India, of sexual harassment on April 19, 2019. She wrote a letter to the other 22 Supreme Court Justices and provided evidence to support her accusations. Gogoi CJI convened a special hearing on April 20 and refuted the accusations. He was seated alongside Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna on the
A bench made up of Justices Arun Mishra, Rohinton Nariman, and Deepak Gupta began hearing the case on April 23rd. They gave Utsav Bains, a lawyer, notice to show up in person. Mr. Bains personally appeared before the Court on April 24 and delivered an affidavit in a sealed cover.
The Bench instructed retired Justice AK Patnaik to look into the alleged conspiracy on April 25. The Delhi Police Commissioner, the Chief of the Intelligence Bureau, and the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) all provided him with assistance. The Bench will receive a report from Justice AK Patnaik that details his conclusions and is enclosed in a sealed cover.
The Supreme Court has established an internal panel to look into the complaints of sexual harassment concurrently with these sessions. The in-house panel's investigation has been restricted to the sexual harassment claims, while the AK Patnaik investigation is specifically focusing on the conspiracy charges. Justices S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, and Indira Banerjee made up the internal panel. Ramana J withdrew himself from the panel on April 25 when the complainant voiced her opposition to his appointment. She referred to the Chief Justice and Justice Ramana J's intimate friendship. Indu Malhotra, a justice, took his post.
- The complainant withdrew from the internal investigation on April 30. She gave several justifications, including: Complainant was not permitted to have a lawyer present throughout the proceedings.
- No audio or video recording is permitted during hearings. Complainant was not made aware of the Committee's process.
The case was decided on February 18th, 2021 by a three-judge panel chaired by Justice Kaul. He mentioned that recovering electronic evidence after over two years is challenging. Additionally, the report from the CJI Bobde-led committee investigating the allegations of sexual harassment was already available.
