The Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Tuesday constituted a committee of three sitting Supreme Court (SC) judges to enquire into the charges of sexual harassment by a law graduate against a recently retired apex court judge, under whom she had interned.
“As the head of the institution, I am anxious to know the facts,” said CJI P Sathasivam, heading a bench which also included Justice Ranjan Gogoi, after Attorney-General GE Vahanvati moved a petition based on a media report on the charges leveled by the intern. The three-judge panel will record the statement of the girl and verify her complaint, following which it will submit its report.
Indicating that he had read the news item, which was mentioned by another advocate Ml Sharma earlier in the day, the CJI said: “Till one O’clock it was lingering in my mind. We will not take complaints of sexual harassment lightly.”
He said the panel of three judges comprising Justices RM lodha, Hl Dattu and Ranjana P Desai was constituted. “Today, they will even issue a notice to the person concerned,” the bench said.The girl’s charges have sent ripples in the legal and judicial fraternity. The girl, who graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, has alleged that sometime in December last year, while interning with a SC judge, she faced sexual harassment at his hands.
Though she preferred to remain silent all this while, she spilled the beans in a blog posted on November 9 in the Journal of Indian law and Society. later, a legal news website carried her interview and the matter appeared on Tuesday in the national media. Although the judge was not named, the victim dropped hints that the judge in question was “highly reputed” and “recently retired”. This triggered speculation about the name of the retired judge, upset by which the AG decided to mention the matter after lunch time before the CJI.
“Allegations of sexual harassment are an extremely serious matter and more so when it concerns the highest judicial institution in the country and must receive prompt and immediate action,” Vahanvati said in his petition. Guidelines on Sexual Harassment at Supreme Court have been recently notified under which any complaint of sexual harassment has to be dealt with by a committee comprising representatives of judges, lawyers and other stakeholders.
The AG called for an immediate enquiry as names of several former judges were being speculated, causing serious harm and damage to the reputation of the SC. Appreciating the concern of the AG, the CJI said: “let the committee find out the facts. First, we have to verify whether she was an intern or law clerk, and whether she was in the SC premises.” The panel will submit a report to the CJI after examining statements of the victim and the publications concerned. Till such time, the court directed the AG’s petition to come up after two weeks.