Lawyer will move SC today against ex-judge on sexual harassment charges
The lawyer who has accused former Supreme Court judge Justice Swatanter Kumar of sexual harassment will move the apex court Monday morning for action in the case. Her lawyer Vrinda Grover confirmed to The Indian Express that senior Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve will mention her petition before the Bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam on Monday and seek early hearing of her petition. The alleged incident happened in 2011 when the lawyer was interning with Kumar, now chairman of the National Green Tribunal, when he was still a Supreme Court judge. She was a student of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, at the time. “Justice Swatanter Kumar, the Supreme Court as well as the Union of India will be respondents in the case,” Grover, also a well-known women rights’ activist, said.
On Saturday, Justice Kumar sent a legal notice to The Indian Express, this reporter, Times Now and CNN-IBN, demanding an apology within 24 hours for publicising “incredulous and false” allegations of sexual harassment against him. In the notice, he has claimed that the complaint made by the woman was motivated and submitted with “ulterior motive”. The woman met her lawyers Sunday to draft the petition to be moved in court, in which she is likely to seek “vindication of the truth of her allegations”, which she first made in an affidavit sent to Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on November 30, 2013.
The Supreme Court had refused to take any action on this affidavit on the ground that a full court had resolved on December 5, 2013, that “representations made against former judges of this court are not entertainable by the administration of the Supreme Court”. The woman’s petition will also question the legality of the full court decision, which was conveyed to her in a letter sent by Supreme Court secretary general Ravindra Maithani, on December 13, 2013. Her petition will say that the decision is contrary to settled law and must be set aside. The petition will say that there was no rationale in not inquiring into her complaint of sexual harassment against a judge who was a “sitting judge” at the time and committed an unwelcome verbal/non-verbal act of sexual nature.
The Supreme Court, her lawyer will tell the court, was bound to set up a committee to inquire her complaint as per the Vishakha judgment. The issue of “discrimination” in handling of two complaints — one against a retired judge (Justice A K Ganguly) of the apex court who allegedly sexually harassed his then intern after his retirement, and another against a judge who allegedly committed the act when he was still a judge of the Supreme Court (Justice Kumar) — by the apex court will also be raised in the petition. While letting the woman know about the decision not to entertain her complaint, Maithani had returned her “original affidavit” as well as enclosures sent by her.
She was told that she “may take appropriate steps permissible under the provision of laws”. In the seven-page affidavit that she sent to CJI Sathasivam, the woman had accused the former judge of “unwelcome physical contact and sexual advances”. She had accused Justice Kumar of allegedly touching her with what she calls sexual intent. She had also attached official emails to show that she interned with the judge, as well as a ticket of the flight she took back to Kolkata on May 30, two days after she was allegedly sexually harassed for the second time.
She says this was when she decided, after talking to her family, to quit the internship mid-way and return to her college. Union Petroleum and Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily, while describing the allegations against Justice Kumar as “serious”, Saturday said it was for the judiciary to decide the future course of action in the matter. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told reporters in Nagpur that a thorough probe was needed in the matter.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/lawyer-will-move-sc-today-against-ex-judge-on-sexual-harassment-charges/
On Saturday, Justice Kumar sent a legal notice to The Indian Express, this reporter, Times Now and CNN-IBN, demanding an apology within 24 hours for publicising “incredulous and false” allegations of sexual harassment against him. In the notice, he has claimed that the complaint made by the woman was motivated and submitted with “ulterior motive”. The woman met her lawyers Sunday to draft the petition to be moved in court, in which she is likely to seek “vindication of the truth of her allegations”, which she first made in an affidavit sent to Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on November 30, 2013.
The Supreme Court had refused to take any action on this affidavit on the ground that a full court had resolved on December 5, 2013, that “representations made against former judges of this court are not entertainable by the administration of the Supreme Court”. The woman’s petition will also question the legality of the full court decision, which was conveyed to her in a letter sent by Supreme Court secretary general Ravindra Maithani, on December 13, 2013. Her petition will say that the decision is contrary to settled law and must be set aside. The petition will say that there was no rationale in not inquiring into her complaint of sexual harassment against a judge who was a “sitting judge” at the time and committed an unwelcome verbal/non-verbal act of sexual nature.
The Supreme Court, her lawyer will tell the court, was bound to set up a committee to inquire her complaint as per the Vishakha judgment. The issue of “discrimination” in handling of two complaints — one against a retired judge (Justice A K Ganguly) of the apex court who allegedly sexually harassed his then intern after his retirement, and another against a judge who allegedly committed the act when he was still a judge of the Supreme Court (Justice Kumar) — by the apex court will also be raised in the petition. While letting the woman know about the decision not to entertain her complaint, Maithani had returned her “original affidavit” as well as enclosures sent by her.
She was told that she “may take appropriate steps permissible under the provision of laws”. In the seven-page affidavit that she sent to CJI Sathasivam, the woman had accused the former judge of “unwelcome physical contact and sexual advances”. She had accused Justice Kumar of allegedly touching her with what she calls sexual intent. She had also attached official emails to show that she interned with the judge, as well as a ticket of the flight she took back to Kolkata on May 30, two days after she was allegedly sexually harassed for the second time.
She says this was when she decided, after talking to her family, to quit the internship mid-way and return to her college. Union Petroleum and Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily, while describing the allegations against Justice Kumar as “serious”, Saturday said it was for the judiciary to decide the future course of action in the matter. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told reporters in Nagpur that a thorough probe was needed in the matter.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/lawyer-will-move-sc-today-against-ex-judge-on-sexual-harassment-charges/
