New Delhi: The Bar Council of India Saturday condemned the “false and cooked-up” sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and said the entire bar was standing with the CJI, and against this “attempt to malign the institution”.
“These are all false and cooked-up allegations and we condemn these kinds of acts. These kind of allegations and actions should not be encouraged. This is an attempt to malign the institution. Entire bar is standing in solidarity with the Chief Justice of India,” Manan Kumar Mishra, BCI chairperson, told PTI.
He said an emergency meeting of the top bar body would be convened on Sunday and a resolution be passed in this regard.
“We will pass the resolution and then try to meet the CJI to make him aware of the (BCI’s) decision,” Mishra said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate Rakesh Khanna, who was present during the extraordinary hearing in the matter on Saturday, however, refused to comment.
“We are not part of the case…There is no lis (litigation) before the court. I am not giving any interview (on the controversy). Thank you,” he said.
However, former SCBA president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said the proper course would be to have an in-house inquiry by some senior Supreme Court judges to authoritatively find out the truth “this way or that way” in a time-bound manner.
“If it is a false allegation then this definitely is a threat to independence of judiciary, but if it is true then it is also very serious,” he said.
“There should be an in-house inquiry by some senior Supreme Court judges to find out authoritatively this way or that way in a time-bound manner,” Singh told PTI.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Bar Association also condemned the allegations on the CJI and said it was an attempt to target top Indian judiciary and the entire bar stood in support of the CJI.
“We condemn this attempt of targeting Indian judiciary. There is an urgent need to find a better way of dealing with these kind of accusations. Such baseless allegations are enough to ruin the reputation of a judge…this way anyone can make any accusations against anyone,” the NGT Bar Association’s office-bearer Gaurav Kumar Bansal told PTI.
The Supreme Court in the hearing Saturday said independence of judiciary was under “very serious threat” and “unscrupulous allegations” of sexual harassment have been levelled against CJI Gogoi as some “bigger force” wanted to “deactivate” the office of the CJI.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Gogoi was constituted to hold the unprecedented proceedings in the wake of circulation of an affidavit of a former woman apex court employee levelling allegations against the CJI. The affidavit was sent to 22 SC judges.
Also read: Independence of judiciary under threat, says CJI after sexual harassment charges against him
Looks like you are not too bright. You can’t read between lines.
It’s a conspiracy to malign the independent judiciary and the high respectful post of the Chief Justice of India. It is in very bad taste.. It should strongly condemned and not encouraged. There is no way a staffer who worked only for a month or two can level such serious charges. She must be having strong political backing to come up with something like this.
After considerring last years incidence in appex court history ,appointment of chief justice gogoi ,posting of alleged woman s appointment in office of chief justice , time of allegation by her and contents as well as nature of allegations ; the cruke person benind it has crossed limits of foolishness also..HON,BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE do not give heeds to such foolishness . The every honest and true Indian is with you only.
Shri Soli Sorabjee has said the charges against the CJI are “ absurd “. The assumption is that, beyond a certain level of eminence, wrongdoing or moral turpitude are inconceivable. We know that is not the case. A woman has tendered an affidavit to 22 learned judges of the apex court, a few – too few, unfortunately – of whom are women. The whole basis of rule of law is that the truth or falsity of those charges should be ascertained by a set of responsible people – like Justice B N Srikrishna, in the case of Ms Chanda Kochchar – whose verdict will inspire universal respect and acceptance. Trashing those charges at the stage of admission – respected lawyers are questioning the modalities of how this case was heard – does not inspire confidence. More than one individual, the entire institution is on test. We all hope it will acquit itself wonderfully well.
Why bar council is acting like chamcha? Shouldnt there be unbiased investigation first????
What if – God forbid – the complaint is genuine ? A traumatised young woman, facing possibly the second most powerful man in the country. How much does the Bar Council or the NGT know about the facts of the case, beyond having the highest regard for an individual who has built up a reputation over a lifetime of rectitude and integrity ? Justice demands that a fair enquiry take place, one that is completely uninfluenced by the asymmetry of power between two human beings.
How much does the Bar Council or the NGT know about the facts of the case,
They know Indira jaising is behind it and she is linked to Congress.. Congress tried to pressurize former CJI. Secus are deliberately trying to confuse people to forget the elephant in the room. The Congress, by blaming NDA.
If you are so sure of your facts that Indira Jaising and Congress party are behind this, why don’t you swear affidavit and bring your knowledge on record ?