22 April,2019 08:25 AM IST | | Agencies
Ranjan Gogoi took oath as the Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018. Pic/AFP
New Delhi: The Women in Criminal Law Association on Saturday demanded a prompt inquiry into the sexual harassment allegation against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and said he should not hold office during the process. The group also distanced itself from the Bar Council of India's statement calling the allegations "false and cooked up".
"The cock and bull story has been cooked up to plot some big conspiracy against the institution. The Bar is fully standing with our CJI and the Judges of the Supreme Court," the Bar Council of India said in a statement.
"Bar Council of India strongly condemns attempt to malign the image of our Chief Justice of India and the highest judicial institution. The allegations levelled by the lady against Hon'ble Mr J Ranjan Gogoi are all false and concocted," the council said. The BCI has appealed to the people and entire legal fraternity to stand with the Supreme Court in order to save it.
"I have called an emergent meeting of the Council tomorrow to decide the course of action in this regard. The delegation of Council will also meet the Hon'ble CJI and other Judges to apprise them of the views of the Council," said BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra. The Supreme Court held an extraordinary hearing on Saturday after a former employee of the apex court accused Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment and persecution.
ALSO READ
Nations Plenary Health & Research Summit 2024 (NPHRS) Hosted at Bharat Mandapam - IECC, Government of India, New Delhi
New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat develops technical snag, stopped in UP's Etawah
AAP should contest all 90 seats in Haryana on its own strength: Somnath Bharti
EAM Jaishankar wishes Brazilian counterpart on their independence day
'Over 2,700 lawyers got financial assistance under AAP govt's insurance scheme'
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Gogoi was constituted after a sworn affidavit by the woman copies of which were sent to the residences of 22 apex court judges became public on Saturday. During the hearing, an unfazed Justice Gogoi said the allegations are unbelievable. "This is unbelievable. I don't think I should stoop low even to deny these allegation," he said, adding, "There has to be bigger force behind this, they want to deactivate the office of CJI."
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
