<p style="text-align: justify;">Chief Justice of India <strong>Ranjan Gogoi</strong> today made an emotional appeal while responding to allegations of sexual harassment against him (<strong><em><span style="color: #993366;">In Re: Matter Of Great Public Importance Touching Upon The Independence Of Judiciary</span>)</em></strong>.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Sitting in a <span style="color: #993366;"><a href="https://barandbench.com/live-updates-from-sc-sexual-harassment-allegations-cji/" rel="noopener" style="color: #993366;" target="_blank">special bench constituted today</a></span> after allegations of sexual harassment against him were published in the media, Justice Gogoi said that it was an attempt to deactivate the office of the Chief Justice of India.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>This is unbelievable. I will not stoop so low even in denying it</strong>“, </em>said Gogoi J.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He spoke emotionally about the meagre savings he has amassed as a judge, saying,</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>A bank balance of Rs. 6,80,000 is all I have.They cannot catch me on money. So they have brought this up. </strong></em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><strong>After 20 years and Rs. 6,80,000 as bank balance this is the reward a Chief Justice of India gets.</strong>“</em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He also recounted the allegations against the complainant lady, while stating that four online publications have published the story.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“Scroll, Wire, Caravan and Leaflet [published the story]. I was given ten hours to respond to the allegations”, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">While alleging that it was an attempt to browbeat the judiciary, Gogoi J. made it clear that he will continue in his office till the end of his tenure.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“What I want to tell the citizens of this country is that the judiciary is under very very serious threat. </em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>I will sit on this Bench and discharge my duties without fear or favour”, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He went on to state,</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>Why would any sane person want to become a judge? Reputation is all that we have. That is also under attack.</strong>“</em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Attorney General <span style="color: #993366;"><strong>KK Venugopal</strong></span> and Solicitor General <span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Tushar Mehta</strong></span> both took a very serious view of the matter.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Venugopal said that even he was attacked by another lawyer for defending the government.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>I am an officer of this Court, I was also under attack by a lawyer for defending the government. I don’t want to mention the name of the lawyer</strong>“, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Court then said that it would not pass any judicial order at the moment, since the CJI is also on the Bench and the allegations are against him.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>We are not passing any judicial order at this moment. We however ask media to show restraint, responsibility and wisdom so that independence of judiciary is not affected by baseless allegations</strong></span>“, </em>the Court said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged that the Court register a case under his name and pursue the matter.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Court said that it would look into it.</p>.<p><em>Read the order below.</em></p>.<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2tJJ8mk"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Bar & Bench<span style="color: #000000;"> is available on <span style="color: #339966;">WhatsApp</span>. For real-time updates on stories, Click here</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;"><strong style="color: #000000;"> to subscribe to our WhatsApp.</strong></span></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Chief Justice of India <strong>Ranjan Gogoi</strong> today made an emotional appeal while responding to allegations of sexual harassment against him (<strong><em><span style="color: #993366;">In Re: Matter Of Great Public Importance Touching Upon The Independence Of Judiciary</span>)</em></strong>.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Sitting in a <span style="color: #993366;"><a href="https://barandbench.com/live-updates-from-sc-sexual-harassment-allegations-cji/" rel="noopener" style="color: #993366;" target="_blank">special bench constituted today</a></span> after allegations of sexual harassment against him were published in the media, Justice Gogoi said that it was an attempt to deactivate the office of the Chief Justice of India.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>This is unbelievable. I will not stoop so low even in denying it</strong>“, </em>said Gogoi J.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He spoke emotionally about the meagre savings he has amassed as a judge, saying,</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>A bank balance of Rs. 6,80,000 is all I have.They cannot catch me on money. So they have brought this up. </strong></em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em><strong>After 20 years and Rs. 6,80,000 as bank balance this is the reward a Chief Justice of India gets.</strong>“</em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He also recounted the allegations against the complainant lady, while stating that four online publications have published the story.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“Scroll, Wire, Caravan and Leaflet [published the story]. I was given ten hours to respond to the allegations”, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">While alleging that it was an attempt to browbeat the judiciary, Gogoi J. made it clear that he will continue in his office till the end of his tenure.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“What I want to tell the citizens of this country is that the judiciary is under very very serious threat. </em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>I will sit on this Bench and discharge my duties without fear or favour”, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">He went on to state,</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>Why would any sane person want to become a judge? Reputation is all that we have. That is also under attack.</strong>“</em></p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Attorney General <span style="color: #993366;"><strong>KK Venugopal</strong></span> and Solicitor General <span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Tushar Mehta</strong></span> both took a very serious view of the matter.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Venugopal said that even he was attacked by another lawyer for defending the government.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<strong>I am an officer of this Court, I was also under attack by a lawyer for defending the government. I don’t want to mention the name of the lawyer</strong>“, </em>he said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Court then said that it would not pass any judicial order at the moment, since the CJI is also on the Bench and the allegations are against him.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;"><em>“<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>We are not passing any judicial order at this moment. We however ask media to show restraint, responsibility and wisdom so that independence of judiciary is not affected by baseless allegations</strong></span>“, </em>the Court said.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged that the Court register a case under his name and pursue the matter.</p>.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Court said that it would look into it.</p>.<p><em>Read the order below.</em></p>.<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2tJJ8mk"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Bar & Bench<span style="color: #000000;"> is available on <span style="color: #339966;">WhatsApp</span>. For real-time updates on stories, Click here</span></strong><span style="color: #000000;"><strong style="color: #000000;"> to subscribe to our WhatsApp.</strong></span></span></a></p>