A former employee of the Supreme Court of India accused Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexually harassing her. Hearing the accusation, was a special bench consisting of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna. The accuser’s sworn affidavit was shared with 22 other sitting judges of apex court.
Going into complete detail about what happened in a formal affidavit, the former employee said Gogoi harassed her on two separate accounts in August 2018, after Gogoi was made Chief Justice. According to the affidavit, Gogoi started taking an interest in the employee’s personal and professional life so much so that he even asked her to work with him in his office. During one such incident, the harassment got so bad, the employee had to push Gogoi away with both her hands, she alleges.
Post this particular incident, the employee was transferred at least three times and was officially fired from her position on the 28th of December, 2018. Furthermore, the former employee also alleged there were a series of harassment cases against her. Not only that, a frivolous FIR was filed against her and her family. By the end of 2018, her disabled brother in law and husband both were fired from their respective jobs with the Delhi Police
Apart from her husband and brother in law being fired, a FIR was also lodged against the former employee by Naveen Kumar, a resident of Jhajjar. According to Naveen Kumar, the said former employee had promised to get him a job and took Rs. 50,000. However, the moment she had the money, she disappeared without a trace.
When she was arrested by the police, because of this FIR, she and her family were severely mistreated and abused by the police at the station. She was taken to Tihar Jail for a day and was granted bail on the 12th of March 2019.
After the incident took place in Gogoi’s office, the former employee alleges he called her into his office and asked her not to tell anyone what happened. He further told her to take the blame and asked her to write on her notepad saying that is what happened.
Responding to the allegations made against him, Secretary General of the SC Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar said these were all rumours made by a woman whose family was on the wrong side of the law. According to Sanjeev, “She faced three charges. One, that she showed reluctance and questioned the decision of senior officers” when she was asked to sit in the Admin Materials section. Two, that she tried to “bring influence” from “unacceptable quarters” to exert pressure on her supervisors who changed her seat. Three, that she “unauthorisedly absented herself from duty” on November 17 and showed “insubordination, indiscipline and lack of devotion to duty. There were previously 2 criminal cases which had been instituted against her i.e. (1) FIR No. 484/11, P.S. Hari Nagar u/s 324, 341, 354, 506 , 34 IPC; (2) DD No. 30A dated 05.03.2012 u/s 107/150, IPC, P.S. Hari Nagar, SEM Court, Moti Nagar,” said the general secretary.
While the employee’s family said the previous cases were disputes with neighbours and were closed on mutual grounds, the former employee said she apologised for being absent on the 17th of November.
With both sides sounding compelling in their own right, the solution seems to warrant a long debate.
Stay tuned to Mango News for more updates on the case.
