The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Registrar General of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on a plea filed by former woman judge who had alleged sexual harassment by a HC judge and resigned her job. The woman had resigned after alleging that she was sexually harassed by a judge of the high court. The top court has also sought a response from the high court within six weeks.
It all began when the Additional District and Sessions Court Judge at Gwalior alleged sexual harassment from a Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and narrated a number of incidents where she was the target of the judge’s ‘foul and malicious intentions’.
The woman Judge said, “Call it a woman’s intuition but I was very cautious and disturbed… I ignored him and kept doing my work.”
Not only has the High Court Judge been named accused but also three other judicial officers, who on the orders of the High Court Judge allegedly sexually assaulted the woman officer.
The woman judge had quit in 2014 accusing a judge of the Gwalior bench of the high court of seeking sexual favours from her.
The apex court has also agreed to examine the plea of reinstatement of the woman judicial judge. The woman judge had also written a letter to then Chief Justice of India explaining the reasons that forced her to resign from judicial service.
As per a report, an inquiry panel was set up in 2015 after 58 members of the Rajya Sabha gave the notice to move a motion to impeach the HC judge. The report by the committee was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in December last year.
Relying upon the findings on her transfer, the petitioner has sought her job back. However, the accused judge had said that he was ready to face the death penalty if the charges against him were found to be true. In order to safeguard his integrity, the sexual harassment accused had stepped down from his post, maintaining a stand of innocence.
—India Legal Bureau