There is no end to the fake news that can be spread to distort the reality and interfere in the judicial proceedings of the country. Ever since the sexual harassment allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi have come into existence, the media is keen to announce the perpetrator, disregarding the established procedure. In continuance of this attitude, there has been another piece of fabricated news through which the media is trying to establish that prominent judges in the Supreme Court have expressed their dissatisfaction over the judicial procedure conducted to ascertain if the charges against CJI Ranjan Gogoi have any base. However, the judges have come out refuting the allegations and have categorically stated that there is no truth in this assertion.
In this regard, a report published by the Indian Express, a leading news publication, stated that two sitting judges of the Supreme Court, Justice RF Nariman, and Justice DY Chandrachud had met the inquiry panel comprising Justices S A Bobde, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee on Friday evening to urge the committee to not proceed with the inquiry ex parte, citing that the credibility of the Supreme Court would be further damaged.
In light of this, the Supreme Court has stated in a press release that the statement by Indian Express is fabricated. It states, “It is most unfortunate that a leading newspaper has chosen to state that Justice RF Nariman and Justice DY Chandrachud together met Justice SA Bobde on Friday Evening i.e. on 3rd May 2019. This is wholly incorrect. The in-house committee which is deliberating on the issue concerning Hon’ble Chief Justice deliberates on its own without any input from any other Hon’ble Judge of this Court. ”
This completely establishes that the in-house committee formed to ascertain the truthfulness in the allegations against the CJI is proceeding on the matter on its own, without any inputs from any outside agency. Moreover, no Hon’ble justice of the court has objected to the proceedings, as the Indian Express report claims.
The fabricated statement of Indian Express was regarding the decision of the in-house committee to proceed with the probe ex-parte, after the ex-staffer (the accuser) had refused to be a party to the inquiry. She had stated that the proper procedure isn’t being followed as she’s not being allowed to have legal representation. Whereas the truth of the matter is, the in-house 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, which states the procedure of inquiry in such cases; was being thoroughly followed. 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. Therefore, due process of law was being followed, as clarified by Justice Bobde on April 23 when he stated, “This is going to be an in-house procedure which does not contemplate representation of advocate on behalf of parties. It is not a formal judicial proceeding.”
In spite of the reassurance, when the ex-staffer chose not to be a part of the proceedings, the committee decided to continue for the sake of providing justice to the accuser and the accused. Ever since the committee decided to proceed ex-parte, the media and the NGO activists are trying to implicate the in-house committee for not following the proper procedure, thereby indicating that the committee has an underlying bias for the CJI and went one step ahead by producing fabricated statements. All these tactics are only creating a hindrance in the judicial proceedings and challenging the sanctity and independence of the institution.