Chief Justice of India sexually harassed me, says former SC staffer

In this photo taken on October 3, 2018, in-coming Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi takes the oath during the swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi. Pic/AFP

A former employee of the Supreme Court has made allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi in an affidavit that she sent to all the judges of the court on April 19, 2019.

The affidavit also provides a chilling 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 SC, 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 alleged incident of harassment happened on October 11, 2018. The woman has since been dismissed from service. First, her husband and one of her brothers-in-law - both employed with the Delhi police - were recently suspended on allegedly frivolous grounds. Later, another brother-in-law who was appointed as a junior court attendant through the CJI's discretionary quota on October 10, 2018, was also dismissed from service.

She herself was arrested in a case of bribery that was registered in March 2019. The woman, who is currently out on bail, claims that the case is fabricated. The bribery case was recently shifted to the crime branch, which has now moved the Patiala House court to cancel her bail.

'Bigger force wants to deactivate the CJI's office'
Describing the allegations of sexual harassment against him as "unbelievable", CJI Gogoi convened an extraordinary hearing at the SC on Saturday, and said that a larger conspiracy was behind it and he would not stoop low even to deny allegations.

In the hurriedly called hearing after the allegations cropped up, the apex court left it to the "wisdom of media" to show restraint and act responsibly so that the independence of the judiciary is not affected.

The apex court, which held the hearing for around 30 minutes, said the independence of the judiciary was under "very serious threat" and "unscrupulous allegations" of sexual harassment have been levelled against the Chief Justice of India as some "bigger force" wanted to "deactivate" the office of the CJI.

The court, which said the judiciary "cannot be made a scapegoat", said the media should not publish the woman's complaint without verifying its truth. The CJI said this issue has cropped up when a bench headed by him is scheduled to hear "many, many sensitive cases" next week and this was also the month of the Lok Sabha elections in the country.

Besides the CJI, the bench also comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna, hinted towards a "bigger force" behind the controversy, which has the potential to shake the faith of the public in the judicial system.

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