Justice SA Bobde will head the panel probing allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi
Highlights
- Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been accused of sex harassment
- The conspiracy allegation had come from a top court lawyer, Utsav Bains
- He said he was offered Rs 1.5 crore to hold presser against Chief Justice
The conspiracy angle in the sex harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has to be thoroughly looked into, a bench of the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. The conspiracy allegation had come from Utsav Bains, a lawyer of the top court, who said in an affidavit that the Chief Justice was being framed in a false case that would force him to resign.
"We want to know the veracity of the affidavit," said a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta, who are hearing the affidavit.
"A serious issue has been raised. Not only about CJI, but someone is trying to get the benches. Three employees were dismissed. These employees combined together behind the conspiracy as per his affidavit. Bains says fixing game going on. It is a matter of great concern," the court said.
Utsav Bains, in his affidavit, said he was offered Rs. 1.5 crore by one Ajay to represent a former employee of the Supreme Court and arrange a press conference against the Chief Justice Gogoi at the Press Club.
"We have to find out the truth. Is there any fixing going on here? The entire country will lose faith if we shut our eyes... In case this affidavit is false, we will not tolerate it," the judges said.
The unprecedented allegations against a top judge of the country have added to a series of setbacks the judiciary has been facing over the last year - starting with a press conference by four of the seniormost judges where they spoke of their concerns.
Later, an attempt was made by the opposition parties to impeach then Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has strongly denied the allegations, asserting that the independence of the judiciary is "under threat" and it was being made a "scapegoat".
On Tuesday, the full court, after a meeting, set up a three-judge bench to look into the allegations against Justice Gogoi.
During the hearing earlier on Wednesday, the judges had met the CBI chief, the chief of the Intelligence Bureau and the chief of Delhi Police and asked them to look into the documents submitted by Utsav Bains in a sealed cover.
"We will say this inquiry has nothing to do with the other. We are inquiring about a person who met Bains. We want to know the veracity of the affidavit," the judges said.