Will go deep into fixing claims in top judiciary: SC on alleged conspiracy to "frame" CJI

Stung by alleged claims of "fixers" at work and manipulating the top judiciary, the Supreme Court Wednesday said it would "inquire, inquire and inquire" till it gets to root of whether sexual harassment allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi was part of a "larger conspiracy" to "frame" him.

On a day of dramatic developments when the chiefs of the CBI, IB and Delhi Police were also summoned to the court, a special bench took serious note of the sensational claims of advocate Utsav Singh Bains, who has filed an affidavit alleging "larger conspiracy" to frame the CJI.

After meeting the top officials, the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra made it clear that it will "not tolerate" any nuisance.

The bench hinted that the "very disturbing" episode which led to allegations of sexual harassment against Justice Gogoi may be a handiwork of some disgruntled employees and the complainant woman who were dismissed from service.

"We will inquire and go to the root of alleged claims of fixers at work and manipulating the judiciary. If they continue to work then none of us will survive," the bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman and Deepak Gupta, said.

"Fixing has no role to play in the system. We will inquire and take it to the logical end," the bench said, adding, "Are they thinking that they can fix judges? Should we keep our eyes close? Entire country will lose faith in the judiciary".

The court gave about 25 minutes time to Directors of CBI, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Delhi Police Commissioner to appear and meet the three judges of the bench in chamber at 12.30 PM.

After meeting the three top officials, the bench again re-assembled at 3 PM and said the "fixing part" as alleged by the lawyer in his affidavit was a "matter of great concern" for the judiciary.

"He (Bains) says fixing is going on. The fixing part is a matter of great concern for this institution. Fixing is not known to this institution. If he is saying there are fixers, then we want to go to the root of the matter as to how this allegation of fixing has come? Who are these fixers? They have no role to play in the system. We are going to inquire, inquire and inquire and go deep into its root," it said.

"We will not tolerate this nuisance. We will not tolerate if this affidavit is wrong. But we will look into it as he (Bains) is an officer of this court."
"Never in the history, any CJI has taken such an action," Justice Mishra said, adding, "This action has been taken by the CJI for the first time in the history of India. This was happening around in the past also but no CJI had the courage to do this."
"Employees were dismissed. No CJI had dared to take action. This CJI (Justice Gogoi) has taken action. May be these disgruntled employees along with some officers of registry and the woman have ganged up. This will require an inquiry," the bench said, adding, "The truth must come out."
To this, Venugopal said, "I do not understand how a person can make allegations and then say he will not file materials claiming privileged communications."