SC judge Swatenter Kumar sends notice to three media firms

Legal notice says young woman lawyer who had made allegations, had worked with Justice Kumar only for three days

Former Supreme Court judge Swatenter Kumar has said that the sexual harassment charges leveled against him appear to be a deep-rooted conspiracy, and has sent legal notices to three media houses that ran the alleged news clip on the allegation.

Justice Kumar said: "The intern story is concocted with ulterior motives... The complaint is false and a result of conspiracy to tarnish a judge's reputation."

The legal notice says the young woman lawyer who had made the allegations, had worked with Justice Kumar only for three days, whereas one of the media reports indicated she had worked with him for a month.

Through the legal notice, Justice Kumar has also demanded an apology from the three media houses, saying they would otherwise be sued for defamation.

Last month, in a complaint to Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, the young woman lawyer had said that she was sexually harassed on three occasions by Justice Kumar at his residence while she was interning with him in May 2011.

In her detailed affidavit to Chief Justice Sathasivam, the interning lawyer said, "On one occasion, the judge placed his hand on my lower back. I felt quite uncomfortable and disturbed... he asked me if I would be comfortable travelling with him during the internship, and staying in hotel rooms... I felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable."

"On 28 May, 2011 he put his right arm around me and kissed me on my left shoulder... On 29 May, I told him I would not be able to continue my internship."

The Supreme Court has, however, told the young lawyer that it couldn't act against the judge, as he had already retired.

A similar stance was adopted by a Supreme Court panel in the Justice A.K. Ganguly case, and invited criticism from activists.

Union Minister Veerappa Moily was quoted by the NDTV channel as saying that it was the judiciary's responsibility to decide on whether to order an inquiry.