The former Supreme Court staffer, who has levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, appeared before the in-house panel set up to look into her complaint as it held its first in-chamber sitting on Friday. The three-member panel is headed by Justice SA Bobde and comprises of Justices Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra.
The secretary general of the apex court also appeared before the panel but was not present during the hearing, where only the woman was present before the panel, reports PTI. The report added that the advocate who had accompanied the woman to the apex court was also not part of the proceedings since it was not a formal judicial proceeding and just an ‘in house procedure.'
The next date of the hearing would be fixed by the panel shortly. Justice Bobde had told PTI that there was no time frame to complete the inquiry and the future course of action will depend on "what comes out of the inquiry," which will be "confidential."
Justice Indu Malhotra was appointed as the third member of the panel after Justice RV Ramana had recused himself from the panel which was formed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi. The complainant had objected to the inclusion of Justice Ramana on the ground that he is a “close friend of the CJI and a regular visitor to his house.” She had stated that Justice Ramana at an event in Hyderabad had termed her allegations as ‘baseless’ and so her complaint may not get "objective and fair hearing" before the committee of which Justice Ramana was a part. The complainant had also stated that as per the Vishaka guidelines, the panel must have a majority of women.
While Justice Ramana has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and unfounded,” he said he was recusing so as to "avoid any suspicion that this institution will not conduct itself in keeping with the highest standards of judicial propriety and wisdom."
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been accused of sexual harassment by a former Supreme Court staffer employed with him from May 2018 to December 2018. In a sworn affidavit submitted to 22 Supreme Court judges, the complainant has alleged that she was removed unceremoniously from her post after the incident of sexual assault and her family was also harassed after that.
The Chief Justice of India has denied the allegations, claiming a larger conspiracy against the judiciary.
The in-house panel was formed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi after widespread criticism of the manner in which the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of the CJI himself, conducted a suo motu hearing on the allegations.