‘Conspiracy’ against CJI: ‘Do rich and powerful think they can remote control SC?’

On the allegations of sexual harassment against the CJI by a Supreme Court ex-staffer, the court said there is a "systematic attack and systematic game to malign this institution"

Written by Ananthakrishnan G

New Delhi | Updated: April 25, 2019 02:29 PM IST

3 min read

Gogoi expressed confidence in the country's legal institutions in defeating

On April 20, CJI Gogoi had convened an “extraordinary” sitting of the court following reports about sexual harassment allegations against him (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo)

The Supreme Court Thursday hit out at what it said were “systematic” attempts to influence the course of justice delivery and said, “time has come when we have to tell the rich and powerful of this country – you cannot run this court”.

The words fell from Justice Arun Mishra who sitting with Justices R F Nariman and Deepak Gupta while hearing allegations by a lawyer Utsav Bains that there was a conspiracy by fixers and disgruntled employees of the court to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on sexual harassment charges.

The court which reserved its order in the matter referred to the allegation by Bains about gangs of fixers operating in courts. Justice Mishra said “these things are happening in the country since long. So many things are going on. Fixing thing is so serious…”. The court will pronounce its order in the latter at 2 pm today.

“Don’t think Supreme Court can be run by any remote power from any corner of the earth, whether by political power or economic power”, Justice Mishra fumed,

“This is a systematic game…So many things have not come out…People of this country must know the truth”, Justice Mishra continued.

The judge condemned the practice of writing letters when matters are pending and said this was to influence the courts.

“People run by money power try to influence the Registry…Take action against anyone and they will malign…”, he said adding “this can’t go on”.

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This court was made by the likes of Fali Nariman, Nani Palkhiwala, K. Parasaran. This is your institution and not ours….”, he observes.

Justice Mishra said that “Whenever we start hearing big cases involving big people, these things happen…Attempts are made to influence us by writing letters”.

He said “we are worried as judges what is happening here”. Solicitor General Tishar Mehta pressed for an SIT inquiry monitored by the court. The bench said it will decide what course has to be adopted.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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