India’s chief justice is faced with a shocking sexual harassment charge-- and the Supreme Court just held a special hearing on a Saturday

• A former court staff has accused Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of making sexual advances at her in his home office, according to a report.
  
• The appellant has also alleged that she was dismissed when she resisted and that her family members were targeted thereafter.
  
• Supreme Court of India assembled a special bench, including CJI Gogoi, to hear the case on Saturday.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI), Ranjan Gogoi, has been accused of sexual harassment by a former staff, according to a report by Scroll. In the wake of this shocking allegation, the Supreme Court of India assembled a special judges’ bench on Saturday (April 20), which CJI Gogoi was also a part of.

A former court officer who worked from Gogoi’s home office between August and December 2018 has accused the CJI of making sexual advances adding that when she resisted, she was unceremoniously terminated. In an affidavit, the 35-year old woman has also alleged that even her family members were targeted and harassed after her dismissal.

The registrar’s note said that the special hearing was scheduled on a “matter of great public importance touching up on the independence of the judiciary.” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta prodded the Bench to register a complaint in his name but the court refrained for the time being and asked to media to show restraint, responsibility and wisdom so that the independence of the judiciary is not affected by baseless allegations.


“They cannot catch me on money, so they have brought up this. This is the reward a CJI gets after 20 years and a bank balance of 680,000. Independence of judiciary is under very serious threat. I had to tell this from the judicial seat", CJI Gogoi reportedly said in his defence citing that he had less than ten hours to present his defence.

Ranjan Gogoi was one of the four judges who came out in an unprecedented press conference in January 2017 protesting against the then CJI Dipak Misra. In a letter, four senior judges had said that “there have been instances where cases having far reaching consequences for the nation and the institution have been assigned by the chief justices of this court selectively to the benches ‘of their preference’ without any rationale basis for such assignment.” Gogoi signed off on the letter saying,“it’s a discharge of debt to the nation which we have done.”