Senior lawyers cry victimisation over FCRA notice

They said they are being “victimised” as Jaising took up the cause of the sacked woman employee of the apex court who had levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi which were rejected by an In-House Inquiry Committee on May 6. The notice was issued to them on a plea seeking investigation and lodging of FIR under various provisions of law for allegedly violating rules relating to receipt and utilisation of foreign funds. Jaising and Grover, founders of Lawyers Collective, have been asked by a bench headed by the CJI to respond to a plea by an NGO, Lawyers Voice. “It is obvious to us that this is victimisation on account of Ms Jaising taking up the issue of the procedure adopted in relation to the allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India by a former employee of the Supreme Court which Ms Jaising has done so in her capacity as a concerned citizen, a senior member of the bar and a women’s rights advocate, without commenting on the merits of the allegations,” Jaising, Grover and Lawyers Collective (LC) said in a press statement. The statement said that Lawyers Collective has no foreign funding since 2016 when its FCRA registration was suspended and later, cancelled by the Union Home Ministry. “We wish to state that LC taken up appropriate legal proceedings against the cancellation in accordance with law. In any event, we strongly dispute any allegation of mis-utilisation of any funds,” the statement said.

“We will respond to the petition, as and when we served the same. We are seeking competent legal advice and our future course of action will be decided in due course,” it said.