Supreme Court disposes off suo motu proceedings against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi

The suo-motu case was registered back in 2019 on SG Tushar Mehta's request to examine the alleged conspiracy against the judiciary in the wake of sexual harassment allegations that had surfaced against Justice Gogoi.

The apex court today said that the possibility of a conspiracy against Gogoi could not be ruled out, adding that such a conspiracy could be linked to his decisions, including his views on the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The SC bench of Justices SK Kaul, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, in its order, also said since the in-house inquiry committee has gone into the merit of sexual harassment charges and that "no purpose would be served in continuing the suo motu proceedings."

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The SC made the decision based on the report of former Justice AK Patnaik, who had been tasked with probing a larger conspiracy in the allegations against Justice Gogoi and "whether middlemen and fixers working with disgruntled court officials were trying to fix judges".

AK Patnaik panel was not able to get electronic records like WhatsApp messages to probe conspiracy to frame ex-CJI Gogoi, Justice Kaul-led bench said today.

"The Justice Patnaik report acknowledges the existence of a conspiracy against the ex-Chief Justice and it cannot be ruled out," the top court said.

"We are of the view no true purpose would be served. Pleadings are closed and suo motu disposed of. The report be put in sealed cover," the SC said, disposing of the proceedings.