Supreme court asks lawyer for proof on claim of plot to frame CJI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked a Punjab-based lawyer to furnish material in support of his claim that there was a conspiracy to frame Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi in a sexual harassment allegation raised by a sacked Supreme Court employee.

A bench led by Justice Arun Mishra issued notice to Utsav Bains to present the material before it on Wednesday. Bains was not present in court when the bench, also comprising Justices RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta, called out the case.

The lawyer had claimed in an affidavit that the allegation was the result of a conspiracy by vested interests to frame the Chief Justice. His plea was placed along with the suo motu proceedings initiated by the top court to protect its independence after the allegations surfaced.


The CJI was part of the first hearing of the case, but did not pass any judicial orders. He was nonetheless criticised for listing the case for an unprecedented hearing on a Saturday, a court holiday, on a mentioning made by solicitor general Tushar Mehta. The CJI used that hearing to send out a message that he would not allow the independence of the judiciary to be undermined.

Criticism has been mounting on him for the manner in which he held the court over the issue. He has since named Justice Gupta as the third judge to consider the case.