Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Saturday denied charges of sexual harassment against him and said the judiciary is under “very, very severe” threat.
A special bench of the apex Court called an emergency hearing after a former staff at the top court accused the Chief Justice of India of sexual misconduct.
“I don’t want to stoop so low to answer these charges,” Justice Gogoi said during the hearing.
Justice Gogoi said an attempt is being made to undermine the independence of the judiciary by levelling allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India.
He said after 20 years of selfless service as judge, he had a bank balance of Rs 6.8 lakh. “Is this a reward the Chief Justice gets,” he asked.
Chief Justice Gogoi alleged a conspiracy behind the allegations and said, “There has to be bigger force behind this, they want to deactivate office of CJI”.
The special bench refrained from passing any judicial order “at this stage” and said they “leave it to the discretion of the media to act responsibly on allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.”
