“Harassment Allegations Report On CJI Gogoi Should Be Made Public”: Justice Indira Banerjee

Indira Banerjee said that Gogoi “got into trouble” because he was “stern with the staff”

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court Judge Indira Banerjee, in an, said that inquiry reports into sexual harassment allegations against the former CJI Ranjan Gogoi should be made public. She said that by doing so the air around the issue would be cleared.

In an interview with Bar and Bench, former judge spoke at length about the inquiry into harassment allegations leveled at Gogoi by a Supreme Court staffer in 2019. An internal committee was formed to probe the matter. Banerjee and Justices N.V. Ramana and Indu Malhotra were part of that internal committee.

Indira Banerjee said that Gogoi “got into trouble” because he was “stern with the staff.”

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She added, “I wish the report was made public. It would have cleared the air for him (former CJI Gogoi) and us. If somebody makes an advance with consent, can I say it is harassment? One needs to see what she said in her complaint very carefully since it is the judiciary involved. I am not trying to suggest that anything happened with consent.”

Indira Banerjee said that the committee was not formed to decide whether harassment had taken place or not. It was formed to see that if he had committed an act for which he could be removed from the post.

She also said that the inquiry was never brushed aside but the allegations against him were not established.

Speaking with Bar and Bench Indira Banerjee said that she was told to ‘forget about Ps and Qs, about English grammar and spellings because the report will not be published ever,’ by the chairperson of the inquiry committee Justice S.A. Bobde.

Justice Indira insisted that she will proceed on the basis that the report will be published.  “If not today, then tomorrow. If not in my service, then after retirement. If not in my life, then after my death. No one should say that it was brushed under the carpet because he was the Chief Justice of India,” Banerjee told the website.

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