india

Updated: Apr 23, 2019 11:58 IST

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court issued notice to a lawyer who had claimed there was conspiracy to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in a sexual harassment case. The court will hear the matter on Wednesday.

Lawyer Utsav Bains had filed an affidavit on Monday and claimed that there was a conspiracy to make CJI Ranjan Gogoi frame him in a false case of sexual harassment. The lawyer had alleged that he was offered a bribe to conduct media briefing in favour of the woman who levelled allegations of sexual harassment. There is a “conspiracy against the Chief Justice to force him to resign and threaten every judge of the Supreme Court,” Bains said in his affidavit.

On Saturday, CJI Gogoi had convened an urgent hearing of the matter in the Supreme Court. He had said the charges were an attempt by a bigger force to “deactivate the office of the Chief Justice of India because sensitive matters are being heard by the court next week”.

The court has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter.

“There is a bigger force behind this. They want to deactivate the office of the Chief Justice of India because I am hearing sensitive matters next week. Independence of judiciary is under very serious threat, it is pathetic,” said Gogoi during the hearing that lasted 23 minutes.

Also read: Lawyers’ bodies say CJI violated process in hearing own case

He added that he will “continue to act without fear and decide whatever cases I have to decide. Nobody can stop me.”

The top court’s order on Saturday also advised the media to exercise restraint in its coverage of the case; it was signed only by Mishra and Khanna and not by CJI Gogoi, indicating he had technically recused himself from the case. It wasn’t immediately known when the matter will be heard next.