Indira Jaising questions AG’S appearance in hearing on CJI’S sexual harassment allegations

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Indira Jaising on Saturday questioned why Attorney General K K Venugopal appeared in the Supreme Court during the hearing on the sexual harassment allegation against the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Jaising, founder of The Leaflet that was among the four portals which reported the allegation against the CJI prompting the extraordinary hearing, suggested that Justice Gogoi should withdraw from hearing any matter related to the government.

In a series of tweets, Jaising, who was additional solicitor general during the UPA-II regime, asked since the “government has so vociferously defended the Chief Justice of India, should he not recuse from hearing any cases relating to the government?”

“What have the allegations of sexual harassment by a dismissed woman employee of the SC got to do with the Government of India ? Why should the Attorney General for India appear is such a case?” she tweeted.

She said, “It is not for us to say whether the allegations against the Chief Justice of India are true or false, a competent court will decide, but everyone is entitled to due process.”

The senior lawyer tagged the story carried by newsportal The Leaflet with her tweets. During the extraordinary hearing Saturday in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said there was a “common thread” in the communications sent to him by four news portals that carried stories on allegation of sexual harassment against him, and suggested a “bigger force” could be behind the controversy to “deactivate” the office of the CJI.