EC defends integrity of EVMs in SC, asserts it can’t be manipulated
The Election Commission of India (ECI) defended the integrity of the electronic voting system, asserting that it was not prone to any external interference or manipulations.
The Supreme Court’s in-house committee has found no substance in the sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The in-house inquiry committee is headed by Justice SA Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after CJI Ranjan Gogoi. Justice Indu Malhotra and Justice Indira Banerjee are the other two members in the panel.
In an unprecedented development in the history of Indian judiciary, CJI Gogoi had last week appeared before the in-house inquiry committee probing sexual harassment allegations against him.
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On Tuesday, the former woman employee who had accused the CJI of sexual harassment refused to appear before the in-house panel saying she felt that she is “not likely to get justice”.
The woman, who appeared once before the committee, had said she felt “quite intimidated and nervous” in the presence of the three judges of the Supreme Court.
A three-judge bench headed by CJI on April 20 had held an unprecedented hearing in the wake of allegations made against Justice Gogoi.
The Chief Justice had said a larger conspiracy was behind it and that he would not stoop too low even to deny these allegations.
Ordering an investigation into the alleged conspiracy against the CJI, the Supreme Court had appointed retired judge AK Patnaik to head the inquiry to probe lawyer Utsav Bains’ allegations.
Utsav Bains had alleged a conspiracy against the Chief Justice.
Bains has claimed that he was offered Rs 1.5 crore to represent the former apex court woman employee who levelled the allegation against the CJI.
Bains also said that he was asked to arrange a presser against the CJI at the Press Club of India in New Delhi. He said that he had found loopholes in the case.
Chief Justice Gogoi was accused of sexual assault by a former officer who worked as a junior assistant at the Supreme Court between May 2014 and December 2018.
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