Sexual harassment allegations: CJI meets inquiry committee
New Delhi, May 1: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi Wednesday appeared before an in-house inquiry committee looking into allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a former woman employee of the Supreme Court, an official source said.
This is for the first time in the history of Indian judiciary that a CJI appeared before a committee over allegations of sexual harassment, the source said.
"A letter of request was issued to the Chief Justice of India asking him to meet the committee and he responded it and he met the committee on this issue," the source told PTI.
The in-house inquiry committee is headed by Justice S A Bobde, who is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after the CJI, and its two other members are women judges of the apex court justices Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee.
The source said "the CJI met the committee and he has done the needful."
The woman, who levelled the allegations, walked out of the inquiry committee on Tuesday, raising objections over various issues, including denial of her lawyer's presence.
The source said the woman opted not to participate in the proceedings despite being told about the consequence that the committee can go ahead with its task ex-parte. She had appeared before the panel for three days.
"The fact that the committee would proceed ex-parte was told to the woman. She said okay and opted herself out from participating," the source said.
The woman in a press statement Tuesday described as "very frightening" the atmosphere of the in-house inquiry committee and said she was also "scared of her safety" as she was followed by two to four men while returning from the proceedings.
The woman also expressed apprehension that she was "not likely to get justice" from the panel which not only refused her request for presence of lawyer Vrinda Grover during the proceedings but also told her if she did not participate "they would proceed ex-parte".
She said the panel conducted the proceedings without video or audio recording and she was not even supplied with a copy of her statement recorded on April 26 and 29.
She claimed that the committee, set up on April 23, also did not inform about the procedure that was to be followed during the inquiry.
Justice N V Ramana, who was next in seniority to Justice Bobde, was a member of the committee but he recused himself after some reservations were expressed by the woman.
Justice Ramana's place was taken by Justice Indu Malhotra.
Justice Bobde on April 23 had told PTI "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."
He had clarified that there is no time frame to complete the inquiry and future course of action will depend on "what comes out of the inquiry" which will be "confidential".
A three-judge bench headed by CJI on April 20 had held an unprecedented hearing in the wake of allegations made against Justice Gogoi.
The former apex court staffer had levelled the allegations against the CJI which was brought into public domain by some news web portals on April 20.
The woman had worked at Justice Gogoi's home office in Delhi and the allegations were carried by news portals based on the affidavit by her.
Describing the allegations of sexual harassment against him as "unbelievable", the CJI had convened the extraordinary hearing at the Supreme Court during which he said a larger conspiracy was behind it and he would not stoop so low even to deny these allegations.
Justice Gogoi had said some "bigger force" wanted to "deactivate" the office of the CJI.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
