India / SC closes case linked to harassment allegation against ex-CJI Gogoi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday closed a suo motu case, registered in 2019 on emergence of sexual harassment charges against then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said a court-appointed panel headed by former SC judge Justice A K Patnaik has already submitted its report.

A three-judge in-house panel headed by Justice S A Bobde had already given clean chit to Justice Gogoi on May 6, 2019.

"There was some reason to believe that some judgements had led to a conspiracy being hatched against the then CJI. The report by the former judge enquired whether a decision by then CJI on the judicial side had triggered off conspiracy against him. Two years have passed and the possibility of recovery of electronic evidence now is unlikely," the bench said.

Since there is no possibility of recovery of electronic evidence, no purpose would be served to keep the case going on, the court added.

The court pointed out that the Justice Patnaik committee report said a conspiracy against the CJI, in this case, cannot be ruled out. The report said the allegation could have been because of a tough stand taken by then CJI on the judicial and administrative side.

Justice Gogoi, who demitted office as the CJI in November 2019, is at present a nominated member of Rajya Sabha.

The sensational allegations by a 36-year-old employee against Justice Gogoi had first surfaced in the media on April 19, 2019, after a news portal published her affidavit sent to SC judges.

Separately, former SC judge Justice Patnaik was also appointed on the judicial side by a three-judge bench to inquire into "conspiracy aspect" on the basis of an affidavit submitted by an advocate, Utsav Singh Bains. The woman employee who was then dismissed was subsequently reinstated in the Supreme Court.