New Delhi:
Justice NV Ramana has recused himself from the Supreme Court’s in-house panel that is looking into the sexual assault allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Multiple media reports have said that Justice Ramana has said that he is a family friend of the Chief Justice and his inclusion would be a conflict of interest. Justice Ramana has officially written to the top court Registry to recuse from the panel constituted earlier this week.
The Thursday development comes after the woman behind the sexual assault allegations raising concern over the members of the in-house panel. On April 24, Justice SA Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed to conduct an in-house inquiry into sexual harassment allegations levelled against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
When contacted, Justice Bobde, who is next to the CJI in seniority, confirmed the development. He said being the number two judge, the Chief Justice of India has appointed him to look into the allegations of sexual harassment charges levelled against him by a former woman staff. The panel also includes Justice Indira Banerjee.
Earlier, the top court issued notice to lawyer Utsav Bains, who in an affidavit had claimed that he was allegedly offered Rs 1.5 crore to falsely implicate the Chief Justice of India in a sexual assault case. However, despite filing the affidavit, Bains didn't turn up before the top court. Hence, the apex court issued a summon to Bains to be present in the court at 10:30 am tomorrow. The court has also directed him to produce the documents in support of para 17 and 20 to the affidavit.
