Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has strongly refuted allegations of sexual misconduct against him saying that he won’t “stoop low” to deny it. CJI Gogoi made the remarks in called a meeting at a moment’s notice on Saturday over the allegations published by some of the online news portals. He said, “things have gone too far” and “the judiciary cannot be made a scapegoat.”
Presiding over the hearing CJI Ranjan asked, “why a person decides to become a judge? Reputation is all that matters for a judge. If that is also under attack, what is left?”.
CJI Gogoi alleged a conspiracy behind the allegations asserting that they want to “deactivate” the office of the Chief Justice.
Highlighting that the allegations cropped up when he’s scheduled to hear important cases in the coming weeks, CJI Ranjan said he’ll discard his judicial function without fear. “I will sit on this chair and discharge my judicial functions without any fear.”
“After 20 years of selfless service as judge, I have bank balance of Rs. 6.80 lakh. My peon has more money than that… Is this a reward the Chief Justice gets after 20 years,” Ranjan said.
Pointing out that the woman in question – who has levelled the allegations – has a criminal background and that there are two police cases against her, CJI Gogoi said, “They cannot catch me on money, so they have brought up this.”
During the hearing, attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta were present in the courtroom along with Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate Rakesh Khanna. While Mehta termed the allegations as “rubbish”, the bench represented by Justice Arun Mishra said the allegations are “wild and baseless.”
