Supreme Court clarifies, says Justices DY Chandrachud, Rohinton Nariman did not meet in-house panel

The Supreme Court has clarified that Justice DY Chandrachud and Rohinton Nariman did not meet Justice SA Bobde and the in-house panel probing the sexual harassment allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi..This clarification comes after The Indian Express published a story today stating that Justice Chandrachud along with Justice Nariman met the in-house panel on Friday last week and asked the panel not to proceed with the probe into the complaint against CJI Gogoi, ex-parte..The clarification by the Supreme Court states that report published by Indian Express is wholly incorrect..“It is most unfortunate that a leading newspaper has chosen to state that Justice RF Nariman and Justice DY Chandrachud together met Justice SA Bobde on Friday evening i.e on 3rd May 2019. This is wholly incorrect. The in-House committee which is deliberating on the issue concerning Hon’ble Chief Justice of India deliberates on its own without any input from any other Hon’ble judge of this Court.”.The former Supreme Court staffer who had levelled allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had withdrawn from the three Judge in-house committee probing allegations..She had cited reasons such as no video recording, and not being allowed a lawyer, among other things, as reasons for the same..When the panel was informed by the complainant that she will be unable to participate in the proceedings further if she was not allowed her lawyer, the panel had told her that the proceedings would continue ex-parte..The Express story stated that Justice Chandrachud, accompanied by Justice Rohintan Nariman, met the inquiry panel comprising Justices SA Bobde, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee on Friday evening..Justice Chandrachud reportedly also suggested that the committee should accede to the request of the complainant to be represented by a lawyer or it should appoint an Amicus Curiae for the probe..He also wrote to the panel stating that the credibility of the Supreme Court would be further damaged if the probe is continued in the absence of the complainant..While the clarification by Supreme Court states that the two judges did not meet Justice SA Bobde, it is silent on whether Justice Chandrachud wrote to the in-house panel or not..[Read Press Release by Supreme Court].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.