SC ex-judge Patnaik to probe ‘conspiracy’

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 25

The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed former apex court judge AK Patnaik to probe into an alleged conspiracy to force Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to resign by implicating him in a false sexual harassment case.

Justice Gogoi had said some “bigger force” wanted to “deactivate” the office of the CJI.

A Special Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Rohinton F Nariman and Deepak Gupta ordered the CBI Director, Intelligence Bureau Director and Delhi Police Commissioner to extend assistance to Justice Patnaik “as and when required”.

However, it left it to the one-man panel to take assistance of people required to complete the probe. The Bench ordered advocate Utsav Bains — who had claimed that there was a conspiracy to force the CJI to resign and that he was offered a bribe of Rs 1.5 crore — to submit all the material he had to Justice Patnaik.

On the completion of probe, Justice Patnaik will file a sealed cover report before the court, said the Bench, which had on Wednesday asserted that it would take the matter to its logical conclusion.

The Bench made it clear that this probe will not have any bearing on the ongoing in-house inquiry.

The court also rejected Bains’ claim of privilege over certain information under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Upholding the contention of Attorney General KK Venugopal and SCBA president Rakesh Khanna, the Bench made it clear to Bains that he might have to disclose information.

Noting that there was a systematic attack and systematic game to malign the institution, the Bench asserted that the rich and powerful can’t run the Supreme Court.

About Justice Patnaik

Justice AK Patnaik, who served as the top court judge between November 17, 2009 and June 2, 2014 was earlier appointed by a Bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi to look into allegations against then CBI Director Alok Verma

Probe Panel recast

New Delhi: The in-house inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment against CJI Ranjan Gogoi hit a hurdle with Justice NV Ramana opting out of three-member panel and Justice Indu Malhotra taking his place.