New Delhi:
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Swatenter Kumar, accused of sexual harassment, has today asked for five crores in damages from a newspaper and television channels which ran details of the complaint against him and named him.
Justice Kumar, who retired from the Supreme Court in December, 2012, has denied the charges filed against him in the top court this week by a young woman who interned with him last year.
While hearing her case today, the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam asked, "Why did the girl wait for so long being a law graduate? There are so many retired judges. Complaints can come against them even after 20 years."
The lawyer claims that in May 2011, the former judge harassed her with inappropriate physical and verbal behaviour. She then quit her internship.
The woman has asked that the Supreme Court set up a committee to handle cases like hers of sexual harassment against former and current judges. The top court agreed today to explore that demand though it made it clear that "at this moment we are not expressing any opinion on averments or allegations by the law graduate".
Late last year, in the midst of another harassment case against retired judge AK Ganguly, the Supreme Court said that it would not accept complaints against former judges since it has no administrative control over them.