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The Supreme Court has disposed of the suo motu proceedings against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, against whom sexual harassment allegations were levelled in 2019.
The SC said that two years have passed since the incident and the possibility of retrieving electronic records is very less in the probe related to the conspiracy to frame Gogoi.
It said the AK Patnaik panel set up for the purpose was also not able to get electronic records like WhatsApp messages to probe a conspiracy to frame ex-CJI Gogoi, and closed the proceedings.
The top court referred to the letter of the director of Intelligence Bureau that some conspiracy might have ensued due to some 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, 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.
On April 25, 2019, the top court had appointed Justice Patnaik to hold an inquiry into the sensational allegations of a lawyer about “larger conspiracy” to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and fixing of benches in the top court.
