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HomePoliticsGovt hits back at Chelameswar letter: Karnataka judge probe didn't check sexual...

Govt hits back at Chelameswar letter: Karnataka judge probe didn’t check sexual harassment

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Law minister Prasad writes to CJI Misra suggesting judiciary didn’t handle the probe well, but SC functionary calls it an attempt to obfuscate the issue.

New Delhi: Facing flak for interfering in the functioning of the higher judiciary, especially in the wake of senior Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar’s stinging five-page letter to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and 22 other judges of the top court, the Narendra Modi government has spoken out.

It is learnt that earlier this week, union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to CJI Misra, suggesting that the complaint sent by a female judicial officer against Karnataka district judge P. Krishna Bhat wasn’t properly handled. Bhat’s elevation as judge of the Karnataka High Court is being stalled by the government.

Incidentally, in his letter, Chelameswar, the second most senior SC judge, had referred to the Centre’s questionable action in “selectively” withholding Bhat’s elevation, underlining that “for some time, our unhappy experience has been that the government’s accepting our recommendations is an exception and sitting on them is the norm”.

Improper handling or obfuscation?

Sources in the judiciary told ThePrint that Prasad is of the view that the female judicial officer’s complaint should have been referred to the sexual harassment committee of the Karnataka High Court, as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the landmark Vishakha judgment on sexual harassment. This has been conveyed to the CJI in the detailed letter, sources said.

However, a senior SC functionary dubbed the law minister’s view “an attempt to obfuscate the issue”.

“Now that the issue is in the public domain, the government is trying to making an attempt to obfuscate the issue. What the government needs to say is if the female judicial officer ever levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Bhat? If yes, did she, as is required under the Vishakha guidelines, approach the high court’s committee on sexual harassment?” the functionary said.

“My understanding is that even in her first complaint, which ran into several pages, the woman only alleged that Bhat would call her and make her wait for long periods. Nowhere has she accused him of having resorted to sexual harassment. Also, the timing of her complaint clearly indicated the true intentions. The law minister is surely aware of the facts.”

A discreet probe conducted by the previous Karnataka HC chief justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee on the direction of then-CJI T.S. Thakur had concluded that the woman’s complaint was without basis, and aimed at maligning Bhat and stalling his appointment as HC judge. Mukherjee had termed the allegations “incorrect and concocted”.

As first reported by ThePrint, Chelameswar had also taken strong exception to the action of the Centre in writing directly to the Karnataka High Court chief justice Dinesh Maheshwari, asking him to probe the allegations against Bhat on the basis of a fresh complaint sent by the woman. He had also questioned Maheshwari’s decision to initiate a probe in the matter suo motu on the request of the Centre.

Following the strongly-worded letter, the high court chief justice informed the CJI that he was closing the probe against Bhat.

Bypassing ‘inconvenient’ judges?

In his letter, noting that “inconvenient” but able judges or judges-to-be were “being bypassed through this route”, Justice Chelameswar had also suggested to the CJI and other judges that the issue – of the Centre not clearing names sent by the Supreme Court collegium for a long duration without any reason – was “now ripe for the consideration of the full court on the judicial side, if this institution really is to be any more relevant in the scheme of the Constitution”.

Incidentally, Justice Chelameswar’s letter traces the history of the entire case. “In 2014, when Shri Krishna Bhat, a district and sessions judge, was working in Belagavi district, he sent to the high court a report concerning the (mis)conduct of Ms M.S. Shashikala, a judicial magistrate of first-class. The high court registered a vigilance case (HVC) No 93/2014 but did not choose to act upon the same till 18 February 2016. Till that time, Krishna Bhat had faced no allegations from any quarter, including his subordinates,” the letter stated.

“With Shri Krishna Bhat’s elevation around the corner, Ms M.S. Shashikala chose to complain against him. If such retaliatory complaints are entertained, no career-conscious judge would ever risk disciplining his subordinates.”

Chelameswar’s letter refers to records to say that the female officer offered her resignation in April 2016 and withdrew it in June 2016.

“The then-chief justice of the Karnataka High Court was asked to provide the details and background of Ms Shashikala’s resignation. The then-chief justice, after inquiring into the issue, sent two confidential reports dated 14 October 2016 and 14 November 2016. He asserted that the allegations levelled against Shri P. Krishna Bhat were incorrect and concocted. He has found that Ms M.S. Shashikala has made her allegations only to malign Shri P. Krishna Bhat,” Chelameswar wrote.

Despite attempts, neither law minister Prasad nor CJI Misra could be reached for comment.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. The high court registered a vigilance case (HVC) No 93/2014 but did not choose to act upon the same till 18 February 2016.
    Why the matter was delayed? So even judicial officers are no bar to the delay devil to eat.

  2. Brilliant is the timing/release of Ravi Prasad’s letter by the government functionary!

    Sadly (from Ravi Prasad’s perspective), far from obfuscating issues raised by Justice Chelameswar, it’s going to ringingly confirm the views and opinion of the latter. Not only is Prasad’s ploy pathetic but it is also in very poor taste. ‘We, the judges of the Supreme Court of India, are being accused of ceding our independence and our institutional integrity to the Executive’s incremental encroachment,’ says Justice Chelameswar. Elsewhere in the same letter he says that ‘For sometime, our unhappy experience has been that the Government’s accepting our recommendations is an exception and sitting on them is the norm. “Inconvenient” but able judges or judges to be are being bypassed through this route.’ And yet more: ‘We cannot deny Robert H. Jackson’s assertion in United States v. Wunderlich that men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money.’ There is no need to say more here. It would hence be prudent on Ravi Prasad’s part, more since he too is a lawyer, to heed to this voice of sanity and act in the interest of the nation and for the sake of Indian democracy.

  3. The judiciary itself is in a time warp. Legacy issues. Then they block all attempts to ensure transparency and want to maintain a cosy club and behave like maharajas. No sympathy for them.

  4. Not a happy situation when both sides are speaking, off the record, to the media. There must be time tested procedures to resolve such stand offs. When Vajpayeeji was PM, Ram Jethmalani, his law minister, got into a public spat with the CJI. Within moments, he was sent out of the ministry.

  5. We hope the best and ho est minds resolve this burning issues of bias in making judgements and dissent among the judges .Our holy and honoured Institute cannot be tainted or there will be no end; its our last bastion of safeguarding our Constitution.

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