Case Title: In Re: Matter Of Great Public Importance Touching Upon The Independence Of Judiciary
In response to media reports about sexual harassment allegations made by a former Supreme Court employee against then-CJI Ranjan Gogoi, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprised of the CJI, Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna held a special sitting in 2019.
The former CJI had noted that the allegations were part of a larger plot and that those who had instituted them wanted to "deactivate the office of CJI," putting the judiciary's independence in jeopardy. In April 2019, a Bench of Justices Arun Misra, RF Nariman, and Deepak Gupta ordered that the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice AK Patnaik, investigate the alleged conspiracy by fixers and disgruntled employees against the former Chief Justice of India.
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court also considered an affidavit filed by Advocate Utsav Bains, who claimed that 'fixers' offered him Rs. 1.5 crores to frame sexual harassment allegations against then-CJI Gogoi.
The Supreme Court-appointed one-man panel led by Justice Patnaik, which was investigating allegations of a "larger conspiracy" to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, completed its work in August 2019 and was expected to submit its report by mid-September 2019. However, no public information about the report has been made available till date.
Former Supreme Court staff who had accused former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment were reinstated to their job positions in January 2020.
The Supreme Court concluded the suo motu proceedings launched to determine whether there was a "larger conspiracy" behind the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against then-CJI of the Supreme Court Ranjan Gogoi.
After a year and nine months, the case titled "In Re: Matter Of Great Public Importance Touching On The Independence Of The Judiciary" was heard by a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Bopanna, and V. Ramasubramanian.
The bench led by Justice Kaul noted that an investigation panel led by former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Patnaik submitted a report concluding that a conspiracy behind the sexual harassment allegations cannot be "ruled out." The report also speculated that ex-CJI Gogoi's tough stances during his tenure may have triggered the allegations. The report also mentioned an Intelligence Bureau tip that several people were dissatisfied with Justice Gogoi for driving the Assam-NRC process.
However, because more than two years had passed, obtaining electronic evidence was difficult. According to Justice Patnaik's inquiry report, "the veracity of the allegations levelled by lawyer Utsav Singh Bains could not be verified completely due to limited access to records and other collaborative material."
In this context, the bench dismissed the suo motu case, stating that "there is no requirement to keep the case going."