Justice AP Shah questions judges' accountability
"A permanent employee of the Supreme Court (SC) was removed from her post on the flimsy allegation of her having taken a half-day casual leave, and protesting against her seating arrangement. Her relative was dismissed from the same service soon thereafter. She made allegations of sexual harassment against the CJI, in response to which there was an unusual hearing that took place on a Saturday without a petition having been moved," said Justice Shah, who retired as chief justice of Delhi high court in 2010 and served as chairman of the Law Commission between 2013 and 2015.
In what was termed a "matter of great public importance touching upon the independence of the judiciary", the person holding the highest judicial office in the land sat as a judge in his own cause, Justice Shah said. "Three judges attended that hearing, but the order that emerged was surprisingly signed only by two, with the CJI choosing to abstain," he said while delivering the Rosalind Wilson Memorial Lecture here on Sunday.
He also questioned the rationale of the apex court's registrar general issuing a public statement that the complaint was false. Later, a similar statement came from the SC employees' association.
"A retired judge was appointed to examine the conspiracy allegations, but nothing has been heard of it so far," Justice Shah said while pointing out how the top judiciary ignored the attorney general who had advised the CJI that there should be an external committee, a recommendation seconded by Justice Chandrachud, a sitting judge of the court.
"The process of inquiry was questionable: the complainant was not allowed to be represented by a lawyer or a next friend; a key allegation, that of victimisation, was not referred to this committee; the in-house process was not explained to the complainant despite her specific request for the same; a copy of her own evidence was not given to her, and finally she withdrew. An order was eventually passed, but it was given only to the accused, and not made available to the complainant," Justice Shah said.
All this demanded a relook at the accountability system for judges in India, he said. "We need a robust mechanism so that future incidents are tackled differently and in a better way. Chief justices cannot be made an exception to the procedure, as unfortunately is the case today. Any accountability mechanism must apply to all judges, regardless of status or rank," Justice Shah said.
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References
- ^ sexual harassment (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Law Commission (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Justice AP Shah (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ judicial independence (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Supreme Court (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ CJI (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
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