Apex Court closes case probing sexual harassment charges against Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi

The Supreme Court on Thursday closed the suo motu proceedings initiated by it in April 2019 to probe into the larger conspiracy behind allegations of sexual harassment leveled against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

The apex court had registered the suo-moto case back in 2019 to examine the alleged conspiracy. The case was closed citing the inability of recovering electronic evidence in relation to the case.

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.

“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.

The Bench said the Justice Patnaik committee report had said a conspiracy to level sexual harassment charges against Justice Gogoi in April 2019 could not be ruled out. The report said it could have been because of the tough stand taken by then CJI on the judicial and administrative sides.

The Supreme Court’s in-house inquiry – which probed the allegations of sexual harassment leveled by a dismissed woman employee against the then CJI – had in May 2019 given a clean chit to him, saying there was no substance in the allegations.