New Delhi: The Supreme Court employee who levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi Monday said she was “shattered” after an in-house panel cleared the CJI of all charges.
She said she is “not only highly disappointed and dejected to learn that the In-House Committee has found no substance in her complaint but feels grave injustice has been done to her a woman citizen of India”.
“I am now extremely scared and terrified because the In-House Committee despite having all material placed before them, has given no justice of protection and said absolutely nothing about the malafide dismissals and suspensions, indignities and humiliations suffered by me and my family,” the woman said in her statement to the media.
Her statement came hours after the CJI was cleared of sexual harassment allegations by the SC panel comprising Justices S.A. Bobde, Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra. The report, which was submitted Sunday, said the panel found “no substance” in the charges.
“Today my worst fears have come true and all hope of justice and redress from the highest court of the land have been shattered,” the statement said.
The woman said she will consult her lawyer and decide the next course of action and that, as of now, “she is on the verge of losing faith in the idea of justice”.
The woman further said that she now feared continuing reprisals and attacks against her family.
Senior SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who the woman had consulted before filing her affidavit, told ThePrint, “We will challenge the order of her dismissal or removal from her job.”
Complainant’s fears
The woman made her complaint through a letter to 22 SC judges on 19 April as well as an affidavit in which she provided a detailed account of how she was allegedly mistreated, removed from service and later victimised and harassed by CJI Gogoi.
She was a junior court employee who was posted at Gogoi’s residence. The incidents, she alleged, took place in October 2018.
The woman appeared before the in-house panel thrice before walking out of the procedure last week, claiming she was “nervous” and fearing that she was not going to get a fair hearing. She said the atmosphere of the inquiry was “very frightening”.
“…I was very nervous because of being confronted and questioned by three Supreme Court Judges and without even the presence of my lawyer/support person,” she had said in a press release last week.
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