SC panel gives CJI clean chit in sexual harassment case, dismisses charge

Fabricated allegations have been pushed aside and justice has been delivered. In light of the sexual harassment accusations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the three member in-house committee of the Supreme Court has found no substance in the allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

After the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, had been accused of sexually harassing a former employee of the Supreme Court; proceedings were being conducted to gauge the basis of the allegations. A committee consisting of 3 members had been formed; in accordance with the procedure established by the Supreme Court of India according to the report of a Committee of Judges on ‘In-House Procedure’ dated 31st October, 1997. The procedure had come into existence, keeping in mind the rights of the accuser as well as the sanctity and independence of the judicial system in the country. Accordingly, the proceedings conducted are not formal proceedings but a fact-finding committee to ascertain the truth of the allegations. Further, on the outcome of the inquiry, if the Committee finds substance in the allegations contained in the complaint and the misconduct disclosed in such allegations is such that it calls for initiation of proceedings for removal of the Judge.

This all took place after a former Court officer, who worked as a junior assistant in the Supreme Court, had sent an affidavit to all the judges of the court on April 19, 2018, in which she had alleged that she was sexually harassed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi on 11th Oct, 2018. The woman accusing the CJI for sexual harassment had two pending criminal cases against her.

In response to these allegations, CJI Ranjan Gogoi had hinted towards a sinister conspiracy at play against him. He had stated, “A bank balance of Rs. 6 lakh 80 thousand is all I have as bank balance. They cannot catch me on money, so they have brought up this”. He stated that the allegations leveled against him form a “bigger issue”. He said, “Things have gone too far. Judiciary cannot be made scapegoat.”

Exactly what the esteemed judge is implying by using terms such as “bigger issue” and “scapegoat” and stating that “they could not catch me on money”, came to light with his subsequent statement. He said, “Considering the very very important cases that are due to be heard next week, they want to destabilise the office of the CJI. Independence of judiciary is under a very very serious threat. This is pathetic”.

Talking about the underlying motives for the allegations against the CJI, AG KK Venugopal had stated, “I am an officer of this Court, I was also under attack for defending the government”.

The judiciary was under attack, and because of the immense interference of the media and the activists, due process of law wasn’t being followed. The procedure for the in-house proceedings had been implemented to safeguard and protect the judicial institution against allegations which turn out to be false and baseless and at the same time ensuring that justice could be delivered. This is exactly what has happened here. Sexual harassment allegations have turned out to be baseless, which had come into existence to malign the name of the honorable judge and to create a hindrance in the important on-going matters of the court.