Day 1 Arguments

April 20th 2019
A three-judge Special Bench of the SC today declined to pass a judicial order in the case of sexual harassment allegations against CJI. The Bench comprising CJI Gogoi and Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna convened a special hearing in the case today where the CJI refuted the allegations. He further said that the case was indicative of the serious threat to the the independence of the judiciary.

The case came up for hearing after  a former officer of the Court accused CJI Gogoi of sexual harassment in an Affidavit addressed to 22 judges of the Supreme Court. Responding to the allegations ma against CJI Gogoi, the Secretary General of the Supreme Court denied the allegations stating the same were completely false.  CJI Gogoi has denied the allegations and said that the case is an attempt to stall the hearings in some important cases listed in the Chief’s Court in the coming weeks. CJI Gogoi further said that he would not hear the matter and left it to the other two judges on the Bench to hear the case. During the course of hearing, Attorney General K K Venugopal further submitted that there had been a violationof Section 16 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 which prohibited the publication of the names.

Declining to pass any judicial orders given that the case concerned a sitting Judge of the Court, the Bench however asked the media to show restraint, responsibility and wisdom so that independence of judiciary is not affected by baseless allegations. The case will be listed before appropriate bench.