Complainant in CJI Harassment Case to File Appeal to The CJI

The complainant is set to file an appeal against her dismissal from the Supreme Court.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The former Supreme Court staffer, who accused Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi of sexually harassing her, will be filing an appeal against her dismissal from the apex court to the CJI himself, according to Hindustan Times.

Senior advocate and her lawyer Prashant Bhushan told the Hindustan Times that the complainant will be filing an appeal to Gogoi himself. "The appeal (mechanism) is available under the service rules," he added.

On 19 April, the employee filed an affidavit detailing charges of sexual harassment against Gogoi, sending it to 22 SC judges. In the affidavit, she alleged that the CJI misbehaved with her on two occasions – on 10 and 11 October 2018 – when she was employed at his home office.

The CJI has denied all the charges, calling it an attack on the judiciary, and was given a clean chit by the Supreme Court on 6 May.

She went on to say that the CJI's behaviour "changed dramatically" after she resisted his advances.

The ex-staffer was transferred out of the CJI's home office on 22 October and was posted at the Centre for Research & Planning. On 16 November, she was again transferred to the Admn (Administrative) Material Section.

She had applied for a casual leave on 17 November to attend a school function of her daughter but was advised to come to work after the function. Since it was a Saturday, it was a half day and she could not attend work due to delay in school function.

However, she said that she "kept updating my supervisor regarding the delay at my child’s school and inability to attend work on that day."

Soon, a disciplinary action was initiated and she was issued a memorandum on 19 November. The memorandum said that she had shown herself liable for action, to which she replied that she had applied for the leave but was transferred to the Library Division the same day.

On 27 November, she was served with a suspension order.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)