Defending Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi who has been accused of sexual harassment, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a blog post said that a set of “institution disruptors” have launched an attack on the CJI based on “completely unverified allegations”. Jaitley’s statement comes a day after a junior ex-lady employee of the Supreme Court accused Gogoi of sexual harassment.
In the blog post titled ‘It’s Time to Stand up With the Judiciary’, Arun Jaitley claimed that the complainant had distributed copies of her representation to other judges of the Supreme Court and the media in order to sensationalise her allegations.
Slamming the so-called ‘institutional disruptors’ Jaitley observed, “They go public against individual judges, including the Chief Justice, when they fail to get a favourable order. They carry on social media campaigns against judges who write judgements adverse to them. They have little regard for truth but masquerade as protectors of public interest.”
The Union Minister said that reputation is an integral part of a person’s fundamental right to live with dignity. “An intimidated judge can fear consequences of a possible view that he is taking. It is, therefore, essential that all well-meaning persons stand with the judicial institution when destabilizers get ready for an assault.”