india

Updated: Apr 27, 2019 00:09 IST

A three-member inquiry committee comprising justice SA Bobde, justice Indira Banerjee and justice Indu Malhotra of the Supreme Court on Friday met the woman who made a complaint of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and held in camera proceedings on the matter.

According to people with knowledge of the development, the complainant appeared before the panel at 12.30 pm and the proceedings lasted three hours. The complainant was accompanied by a lawyer to assist her, but the advocate wasn’t allowed to participate in the proceedings.

The inquiry proceedings remained inconclusive on Friday and the committee will now meet again on Monday, April 29, when the complainant will again appear before the panel of judges.

On April 23, justice Bobde told PTI that the in-house procedure did not contemplate representation of advocates on behalf of parties as it was not a formal judicial proceeding.

A decision to conduct an internal inquiry into the allegations against the CJI was taken on April 23 after a full-court resolution was passed to the effect.

CJI Gogoi has distanced himself from the matter and all decisions with regard to the committee and its proceedings are being taken by justice Bobde, who is the second senior most judge in the Supreme Court and is expected to take over as CJI after justice Gogoi’s retirement in November.

On Thursday evening, a change in the committee’s composition was made after justice NV Ramana recused himself from the inquiry panel. Justice Indu Malhotra replaced him on the committee, taking the number of women judges on the three-member panel to two.

The recusal by justice Ramana came in the backdrop of a letter written by the complainant to members of the committee, expressing concern over his presence on the committee.

In a letter dated April 24, the complainant wrote: “I would humbly submit that since I was posted in the CJI’s residence office, I know that justice NV Ramana is a close friend of the CJI and is like a family member to him. Justice Ramana 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.”

Withdrawing himself from the committee, justice Ramana wrote in a letter to justice Bobde: “My decision to recuse is only based on an intent to avoid any suspicion that this institution will not conduct itself in keeping with the highest standards of judicial propriety and wisdom. It is the extraordinary nature of the complaint, and the evolving circumstances and discourse that underly my decision to recuse and not the grounds cited by the complainant per se. Let my recusal be a clear message to the nation that there should be no fears about probity in our institution, and that we will not refrain from going to any extent to protect the trust reposed in us. That is, after all, our final source of moral strength.”

This move by the top court to hold an inquiry into the allegations came after the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCORA) called for the appointment of a panel to investigate the claims.

The former Supreme Court staffer, on April 19, wrote a letter to 22 judges of the Supreme Court seeking an inquiry into an alleged incident of sexual harassment by the CJI.