NEW DELHI, Feb 18: The Supreme Court Thursday closed the proceedings initiated to probe a “larger conspiracy” behind sexual harassment allegations against ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi and “fixing” of benches at the top court.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that nearly two years have passed and the possibility of retrieving electronic records is very little.
The top court, while closing the suo motu proceedings in the case, said the in-house probe has been completed and the three-member panel headed by Justice S A Bobde, the current CJI, has already given the report exonerating the former CJI.
The bench, also comprising justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said the Justice (retd) A K Patnaik panel was not able to get electronic records like WhatsApp messages to probe the conspiracy and hence no purpose would be served by continuing with the suo motu case.
The top court referred to the letter of the Director of Intelligence Bureau that some conspiracy might have ensued due to certain tough decisions taken by former Chief Justice Gogoi like verdict on preparation of the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam. There are strong reasons to believe that some kind of conspiracy might have been undertaken against the then CJI Gogoi, the bench said, while quoting the report of Justice Patnaik.
It said that in view of the mandate of the order dated April 25, 2019 Justice Patnaik’s report opines that it cannot really inquire whether the decisions of the then CJI on the judicial side had triggered the conspiracy against Gogoi.
“We are of the view that the suo motu proceedings in the present case is accordingly closed and the report be sealed again”, it said, adding that the veracity of the allegations levelled by lawyer Utsav Singh Bains could not be verified completely due to the limited access of records and other collaborative material.
The top court, while referring to the report of Justice Patnaik, further said that simultaneously the report on the existence of conspiracy cannot be completely ruled out. On April 25, 2019, the top court had appointed former apex court judge Justice Patnaik to hold an inquiry into the sensational allegations of a lawyer about “larger conspiracy” to frame Gogoi and fixing of benches in the top court. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
