Lawyers’ bodies say CJI violated process in hearing own case

The resolution passed by the two lawyer bodies also criticised the way the Chief Justice of India conducted judicial proceedings in the matter “in violation of procedure established by law as well as principles of natural justice”.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA), representing lawyers practising in the Supreme Court of India, on Monday called for the appointment of a committee by Supreme Court judges to investigate and inquire into allegations of sexual harassment made against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi by a former staffer at his office.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi(PTI file photo)

The resolution passed by the two lawyer bodies also criticised the way the Chief Justice of India conducted judicial proceedings in the matter “in violation of procedure established by law as well as principles of natural justice”.

On Saturday, the Chief Justice convened an urgent suo motu (of its own accord) hearing into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a former staffer. Justice Gogoi set up a three member bench headed by himself that comprised Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna . A notice put out by the Supreme Court that morning said the court would take up a” matter of great public importance touching upon the independence of judiciary”.

During the hearing, Justice Gogoi rejected the charges levelled against him and termed the allegations an attempt “to deactivate the office of the Chief justice because I am hearing sensitive matters next week”.

However, at the end of the hearing, the Chief Justice withdrew himself from the matter and a judicial order was passed by Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

On Monday, the Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution criticising the procedure adopted by the Chief Justice of India to deal with the allegations.

Shivaji Jadhav, President, Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association said the body “strongly disapproves the manner in which the complaint was dealt with and seeks inquiry and action in the above matter and further seeks immediate appointment of a committee by a full court of Supreme Court (judges) to impartially inquire into the allegations made against Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and give independent finding into the matter.”

But the Chief Justice of India also received support from some quarters: the Bar Council of India, Supreme Court Employees Welfare Association and the Supreme Court Secretarial Staff Welfare Association.

The Employees Association passed a resolution condemning the “false, fabricated and baseless allegations against the Chief Justice of India”.

“The association is united and stands firmly with the Chief Justice of India to defeat the malicious attempt of external forces to target the Indian judiciary,” said the resolution.

The Bar Council of India statement came under sharp attack from some advocates. On Saturday, the council termed the allegation a “cock and bull” story and “big conspiracy” and said the “Bar is fully standing with our CJI and the Judges of Supreme Court”.

Two lawyers, Ashish Goel and Gautam Bhatia, distanced themselves from the statement saying that the bar council and its president’s view doesn’t represent the views of the entire bar.

Adding a twist to the controversy, an advocate, Utsav Bains, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying he was offered a bribe to conduct media briefing in favour of the woman who levelled allegations of sexual harassment.

Bains in his affidavit says that there is a “conspiracy against the Chief Justice to force him to resign and threaten every judge of the Supreme Court”.