On Thursday, Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud requested a status report from the Allahabad High Court administration regarding an inquiry into sexual harassment allegations raised by a woman civil judge in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh against a district judge and his associates.
This development coincided with the woman judge's letter to the CJI going public on social media. In this two-page letter, she detailed the abuse and harassment she suffered during her posting in Barabanki. The female judge asked permission from CJI Chandrachud to end her life.
She penned “I have no will to live anymore. I have been rendered to a Walking Corpse in the last year and a half. There is no purpose in carrying this soulless and lifeless body around anymore. There is no purpose left in my life. Kindly permit me to end my life in a dignified way, Let my life be dismissed”
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In response, CJI Chandrachud directed the Supreme Court administration to take cognizance of the matter on the administrative side. Additionally, he sought a report from the registrar general of the Allahabad High Court. The CJI's action was prompted by the judge's assertion in the letter that she had complained about the incident several times but received no response from the authorities.
Following the CJI's instructions, Supreme Court's secretary general Atul M Kurhekar wrote to the Allahabad High Court registrar general, asking for the status of proceedings before the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) handling the judge's complaint.
On December 4, The woman judge's petition before the Supreme Court was heard and was dismissed by the bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy after merely eight seconds of hearing.
During Wednesday's proceedings, the bench emphasised that, given the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) was already addressing her complaint, there was no need for a judicial order at present.
The bench noted that since the ICC was actively handling the matter and a resolution was pending the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court's approval, there was no basis to entertain the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, resulting in its dismissal.
In her public letter on Thursday, the woman judge expressing frustration revealed that the Supreme Court had dismissed her case within eight seconds.
Detailing the incident, she mentioned that the district judge had requested a nighttime meeting, prompting her to file a complaint in 2022 with the Allahabad high court chief justice and administrative judge, but no action was taken. Subsequently, in July 2023, she filed a complaint with the internal complaints committee of the high court.
In the letter, she criticised the delayed start of the inquiry, claiming it took six months and numerous emails to initiate. Expressing frustration, she indicated the proposed inquiry as a "farce and a sham" due to the involvement of witnesses who were immediate subordinates of the district judge. She disclosed her request for the transfer of the district judge during the inquiry for a more impartial examination, but it was denied.
The letter also disclosed her past suicide attempt, adding a distressing dimension to the ongoing situation.
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