This is an archive article published on April 27, 2019
Complainant deposes as in-camera hearing begins
The in-chamber proceedings began three days after a full court of the Supreme Court on the administrative side approved formation of a three-member in-house inquiry committee.
Chief justice of india Ranjan Gogoi at the Book release function of coffee table book on Architecture of Justice in Delhi. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
The former woman employee of the Supreme Court who levelled sexual harassment charges against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi appeared Friday before an in-house committee of three serving judges, constituted to inquire into the allegations. The inquiry which remained inconclusive Friday, will resume on a date fixed by the three judges.
The in-chamber proceedings began three days after a full court of the Supreme Court on the administrative side approved formation of a three-member in-house inquiry committee, comprising Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana and Indira Banerjee, for an inquiry into the matter.
On Thursday, Justice Ramana recused himself after the woman complainant raised concerns over his presence in the panel, saying he is “a close friend of the CJI and like a family friend to him”, and that she “fears” her “affidavit and evidence will not receive an objective and fair hearing”.
Justice Indu Malhotra, who also heads the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) of the Supreme Court, replaced Justice Ramana. The inquiry, which will resume on a date fixed by the three judges, is in the nature of a departmental inquiry on the administrative side, and not a judicial inquiry. The Secretary General of the Supreme Court, who had been asked to be present with all relevant documents, appeared before the committee Friday afternoon. It is learnt that the lawyer who accompanied the woman complainant was not part of the inquiry proceedings.
On Wednesday, the woman had written a letter to the committee that she wanted to be “assisted by a lawyer and support person of my choice” citing that while she is “capable of presenting facts and evidence”, she “does not have any training or practical experience of law and procedure”.
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She also requested that the “entire proceedings be video recorded”. Her letter stated “a copy of the same be given to me so that there can be no dispute about what transpired.” Currently, the Supreme Court rules for “in-house procedure” have no explicit provisions for any inquiry into allegations made against the CJI.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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Chief justice of india Ranjan Gogoi at the Book release function of coffee table book on Architecture of Justice in Delhi. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
