New Delhi | Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has denied allegations of sexual harassment against him and said the “judiciary is under threat”.
On Saturday morning, a special bench was formed comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was set up to hear the case of CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
A 35-year-old woman who used to work as a junior court assistant at the Supreme Court, put out an affidavit which claims that Ranjan Gogoi had sexually assaulted her.
“I don’t want to stoop so low to answer these charges,” the Chief Justice said during the hearing. “This is the reward CJI gets after 20 years of service?” he said.
He said that allegations are being thrown at him because he is hearing a sensitive hearing next week.
“There are forces that are trying to destabilise the judiciary. There are bigger forces behind these allegations hurled at me,” Justice Gogoi said.
He also claimed that the woman who had complained has a criminal history, and has two FIRs against her filed in the past.
“What troubles me is that after 20 years of service, I have a bank balance of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 40 lakh in PF. When I was a judge I had more. No one can catch me on money. They have to look for something else,” the Chief Justice said.
“All employees of the Supreme Court are treated respectfully by me,” he said.
Justice Arun Mishra said the top court will not pass any order at this stage and asked the exercise media to “exercise restraint and act responsibly”.
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