NEW DELHI: A group of 259 women from various fields including law, human rights and academia on Wednesday in a letter urged the Supreme Court to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, into the allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
In their letter, the signatories demanded that a special inquiry committee of credible individuals be set up and that CJI Gogoi refrain from transacting official duties till the inquiry is finished and also said that the complainant should be allowed legal assistance of her choice and that the inquiry should be completed within 90 days.
“They have declared that the allegation is itself an attempt to tarnish the independence of the judiciary,” said the signatories that include lawyers, scholars, journalists and writers.
“This is both indefensible and appalling. We fail to see what this has to do with the independence of the judiciary, which we wish to uphold.. but this ought not to be interpreted to mean immunity from the investigation when allegations are made,” the letter stated.
The letter also questioned the in-house committee of three judges set up to probe the charges. “The constitution of this committee with no external member is in complete violation of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013.”