The Supreme Court today closed the suo motu proceedings initiated to probe a larger conspiracy behind sexual harassment allegations against former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. The apex court informed that the inquiry report submitted by Justice (retd) A K Patnaik committee did not rule out a larger conspiracy.
According to PTI, the court said that since Justice (retd) A K Patnaik panel was not able to get any electronic record like WhatsApp messages to probe the conspiracy, no purpose would be served by continuing with the case.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that the possibility of retrieving electronic records is very low as two years have already passed.
The court also said that the in-house probe has been completed and the three-member panel headed by Justice S A Bobde has already submitted its report exonerating the former CJI.
The apex court referred to the letter of the Director of Intelligence Bureau. The letter had said that some conspiracy might have ensued due to certain tough decisions taken by former CJI Gogoi including National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
However, the court said Justice Patnaik’s report opines that it cannot inquire whether the decisions of the then CJI on the judicial side had triggered the conspiracy against Gogoi.
Closing the case, the court said that the veracity of the allegations levelled by lawyer Utsav Singh Bains could not be verified due to the limited access to records and other collaborative material.
The Supreme Court of India had appointed former Justice Patnaik On April 25, 2019, to conduct an inquiry into the charges levelled against Gogoi and fixing of benches in the court. The court had also asked the Directors of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Delhi Police Commissioner to cooperate with Justice (retd) Patnaik’s committee.