Justice Indu Malhotra appointed to in-house inquiry panel in CJI case

CJI Ranjan Gogoi

After Justice N V Ramana, part of the three-member in-house inquiry panel headed by Justice SA Bobde set up to examine the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, recused himself from it on Thursday, Justice Indu Malhotra was appointed as member of inquiry panel set up to examine allegations of sexual harassment against CJI.

The development comes a day after the former apex court woman employee, who levelled the allegations against the CJI, wrote to the panel expressing reservation over the inclusion of Justice Ramana on the ground that he is a close friend of the CJI and a regular visitor to his house.

The woman was supposed to appear before the panel on Friday. She also raised questioned the presence of only one woman apex court judge (Indira Banerjee) in the panel which is not in accordance with the Vishaka Guidelines, which state that such a committee must have a majority of women.

The woman wrote, "I would humbly suggest that since I was posted in the CJI's residence office, I know that Justice Ramana is a close friend of the CJI and is like a family member to him."

The woman had also asked the panel to allow her to appear before it along with a lawyer and the proceedings of the committee be video recorded so that there is no dispute about the inquiry. The woman staffer's allegations against the CJI were brought into the public domain on April 20.

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