Row over CJI clean chit, SC protesters detained
NEW DELHI | May 7, 2019 (IANS):
Many women lawyers and activists were among protesters outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday as they questioned the clean chit given to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi in a sexual harassment case a day ago.
As it is not allowed to gather outside the apex court for any kind of demonstation, the Delhi Police detained the protesters and imposed CrPC Section 144 in the area to prevent further escalation.
The former employee of the Supreme Court said she felt "quite intimidated and nervous" in the presence of the three Supreme Court judges.
In a statement to the media, she had expressed serious reservations over the functioning of the panel, saying it was "an in-house committee of sitting judges junior to the CJI and not an external committee as I had requested…"
The woman said that during the panel's hearing on April 26, the judges told her that it was neither an in-house committee proceeding nor a proceeding under the Vishakha Guidelines and that it was an informal proceeding.
"I was asked to narrate my account, which I did to the best of my ability even though I felt quite intimidated and nervous in the presence of three Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court and without having a lawyer or support person with me," she said.
She said she was not even given the opportunity to go through her recorded statement.