NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the manner in which an in-house committee was constituted to probe allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, the complainant on Wednesday wrote to members of the panel seeking the recusal of Justice N V Ramana for a fair inquiry.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel comprising of Justices SA Bobde, NV Ramana and Indira Banerjee was constituted to probe the allegations.
“I was posted in the CJI’s residence office. I know that Justice Ramana is a close friend of the CJI and is like a family member to him. He is a frequent visitor to the residence of the CJI. Because of this, I fear that my affidavit and evidence will not receive an objective and fair hearing,” the four page letter stated.
It went on to state that according to Visakha guidelines put forth by the Supreme Court, the inquiry committee looking into such allegations must have a majority of women. Justice Banerjee is the only woman on the present panel.
She also requested the committee to allow her to be accompanied by a lawyer and a support person of her choice during the hearings and has also requested that the proceedings of the committee be video recorded and that a copy of the recording be provided to her so there can be no dispute about what transpired.
“I have suffered a lot and I am hopeful that my suffering and torture of my family will end soon. For this, I request that Lordships will consider the points I have made,” the letter stated adding that as an ordinary woman, she was full of fear and anxiety as “I am in the unfortunate position of having to speak out against the CJI”.
The woman who made the allegations against Gogoi worked as a junior assistant at the SC between May 2014 and December 2018. In an affidavit filed in the SC, the former court officer has alleged that following the sexual assault incident, she was unceremoniously terminated from her post.