CJI sexual-harassment case: Woman complainant walks out of Supreme Court in-house probe committee, says ‘not likely to get justice’ 

The Supreme Court of India.

New Delhi: The former woman employee of the Supreme Court who alleged sexual harassment by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on Tuesday, said she is “not likely to get justice from this committee,” and will not participate in proceedings before an in-house committee of three serving judges inquiring into the allegations.

In a statement released in media, the woman reasoned her decision of not appearing before the committee, comprising Justice SA Bobde, Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Indu Malhotra. She said she has not been allowed the presence of her lawyer, there has been no video or audio recording of the committee proceedings, she has not been supplied “even a copy” of her statement as recorded on April 26 and 29 and has not been informed about the committee’s procedures into the probe.

She said she was also compelled to walk out of the procedure because “the committee seemed not to appreciate the fact that this was not an ordinary complaint but was a complaint of sexual harassment against a sitting CJI” and “therefore, it was required to adopt procedure that would ensure fairness and equality in the highly unequal circumstances.”

She further claimed that the committee asked her to present her witnesses and added, “I informed them that almost all the witnesses are working in the Supreme Court of India and there is no likelihood of them being able to depose fearlessly before the committee. I also informed the committee today that due to my present health condition and personal circumstances, this kind of stress can be detrimental and harmful to me.”

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