New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today sent notice to a senior judge accused of sexually harassing a woman judge in Gwalior and put on hold a probe that she had said was "biased".
The woman had moved the top court asking the Chief Justice of India to appoint a committee of four members to investigate her allegation against a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge. She had alleged that a probe panel appointed by the state High Court was not fair.
Staying the panel, the Supreme Court sent notices to the accused judge, the Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Registrar of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The Gwalior district judge resigned last month, alleging that a judge at the Madhya Pradesh High Court had repeatedly harassed her, asked her to dance to a Bollywood song at his home, and transferred her to a remote court when she refused his advances.
The accused judge had, in a letter to the Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha, strongly refuted the charges against him and said he was willing to accept "the death penalty" if found guilty.
On the instructions of the Chief Justice, the senior most judge in Madhya Pradesh formed a panel to investigate her charges. But the woman says that the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh is biased against her, and must not be part of any inquiry.
She also says the judge whom she has accused should not be assigned any cases while the enquiry against him is completed.