COMPLAINANT AGAINST CJI SET TO FILE APPEAL — TO THE CJI

NEW DELHI: The former Supreme Court staffer who levelled charges of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi will soon be filing an appeal, to the CJI himself, against her dismissal from the apex court.

“The complainant will be filing an appeal to Gogoi himself,’’ her lawyer and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said. “The appeal [mechanism] is available under the service rules.”

The employee, who was posted at the home office of the CJI, detailed charges of sexual harassment and persecution in an affidavit that was sent to 22 judges of the apex court on April 19. According to the affidavit, the CJI behaved inappropriately with her twice, on October 10 and 11, 2018. The CJI has denied the charges and called them an attack on the judiciary.

In the affidavit, the complainant said the CJI’s behaviour “changed dramatically” after she resisted his advances and then began what she called her “persecution”. She was transferred out of the CJI’s home office on October 22 and was posted in the Centre for Research and Planning. On November 16, her seat was changed to the Admn (Administrative) Material Section.

The 36-year-old woman complainant applied for leave the following day (Nov 17), to attend a function at the school of her 8-year-old daughter, but was advised to work after the function.