Will decide next step: Woman after CJI gets clean chit in harassment case

New Delhi: The woman who levelled charges of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said on Monday that she was “highly disappointed and dejected” by the clean chit given to him by the three-member in-house panel of the Supreme Court. The former SC employee said she would decide on the next step after consulting her lawyer.

The complainant said “gross injustice” has been done to her “as a woman citizen of India”.

The court notification said that the full report did not need to make public.

The woman said she was terrified “because the in-house committee, despite having all material placed before them, appears to have given me no justice or protection and said nothing about the absolutely mala fide dismissals and suspensions, indignities and humiliations suffered by me and my family. I and my family remain vulnerable to the ongoing reprisals and attack and are extremely scared and terrified.”

"I am at the verge of losing faith in the capacity of our system to deliver justice to the weak and vulnerable who are pitted against the powerful within the system itself," read a statement from the woman.

“Today, my worst fears have come true, and all hope of justice and redress from the committee have been shattered,” she said in her statement.

After the hearing, the committee said that she would not be provided a copy of the report. The woman said she has “no way of comprehending the reasons and basis for the summary dismissal of my complaint of sexual harassment and victimisation”.

On April 30, the woman walked out of the proceedings and said she had lost faith in it because she was not allowed to be accompanied by her lawyer and the proceedings were not being recorded.

The complainant had detailed the alleged wrongful dismissals and indignities in a sworn affidavit sent to 22 judges of the apex court on April 19.

Justice Gogoi had denied the woman’s allegations and said he was being targeted as he is slated to hear several important cases.

"There has to be bigger force behind this, they want to deactivate office of Chief Justice" he said, adding the independence of the judiciary is "under threat".