On the 6th of May, a three judge panel headed by Justice Bobde gave Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi a clean chit and cleared him of all charges of sexual misconduct. The charges were filed against the CJI by a former SC employee who worked out of Gogoi’s home office.
While issuing the clean chit in a sealed envelope, the three judge bench said the allegations of sexual misconduct were baseless and there was no substance in the complaint filed by the former Supreme Court employee.
The panel, consisting of Justice Bobde, Justice Indu and Justice Indira submitted its report to Justice Arun Misra, the third most senior judge in the Country. Post allegations filed by the former SC employee, the three judge panel held a long session to discuss the merits of the allegation.
Before coming to its decision, the panel went through every document related to the case, including the 28 page affidavit submitted by the former employee.
Reacting to the clean chit, the former employee said her worst fears have come true. In a statement, the complainant said, “Today, my worst fears have come true, and all hopes of justice and redress from the highest court of the land have been shattered.” During the alleged period for harassment, the employee was shifted three times after being asked to stop working out of the CJI’s home office. According to her, her brother in law and brother were immediately fired from their jobs with the Delhi police after she filed her complaint against Gogoi.
The former employee further said that not only is she extremely disappointed with this order, she is also extremely terrified for her life. Talking about how the in house panel couldn’t find any substance in the order, the former employee said a gross injustice has been done to all women who stand up and fight against sexual harassment.
She said that now that the ruling was passed, she and her family will continue to remain under attack by the Supreme Court. The complainant is going to confer with her lawyers and decide on what steps to take next.
Before passing this ruling, the Supreme Court said it would take a call on the case in a closed session. Previously, several judges recused themselves from this case because of the delicate nature of the incident in question.
Stay tuned for more updates.
