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Shrouded in secrecy, justice has failed
The Supreme Court has disappointed us. The Chief Justice of India may even be innocent, but the way in which he was declared so is unbecoming of the great institution.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The strongest and most respected pillar of democracy, which ought to uphold our rights, has failed miserably in protecting the right of a woman employee at her workplace. The very guardians of law have made a mockery of Vishaka guidelines and the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.
The victim’s plight goes beyond her private sufferings – her entire family seems to have been victimised. She had chosen to send her complaint to all the judges of the Supreme Court, but the full court has failed to inspire the faith deposed on it by an ordinary woman. She was heard under threatening circumstances and decided to after she withdrew. Neither was the procedure fair nor was the result just.
The judiciary was painted to be threatened by a woman employee’s complaint against the CJI for alleged acts done in his personal capacity. The CJI, who refused mentioning in his court, got the matter mentioned on a holiday and sat in judgment in his own case. Then he did not sign the order. Later, he tried to undo the wrong appointing three judges to inquired.
The three judges – of whom two are women – have not lent their ear to the complainant. An ordinary mortal pitted against the CJI, the constitutional authority who cannot be removed except through impeachment, she felt intimidated. No standard procedure followed; she was not even given a copy of her own statement. Not even assisting her with an amicus is failure of justice. The judges lost a great opportunity to show their fairness by gross mishandling of the issue.
Justice should not only be done, it should be seen as being done. Here, however, it is the other way round.
The Supreme Court has lost its credibility. The last resort to justice has failed with its urgency to protect an individual, behaving like any other ordinary entity which silences complainant fearing disrepute. Transparency, the hallmark of justice, has been given a go by. The order copy is not furnished even to thecomplainant. Shrouded in secrecy, justice has failed.
The supreme failure of the Supreme Court has to be reversed and there should be unbiased hearing as per law. Hope this travesty of justice is undone to restore our faith in the supreme pillar of democracy.
It is ironical that the Tamil Nadu Advocates Association has called for contempt action against the complainant. Taking sides with those in power and abusing the process of law is grossly unjust.
This is definitely not the way to go. Whether CJI is innocent or not ought to be decided by a properly constituted Internal Complaints Committee.
Without even following the standards of natural justice, the three apex court judges have given a clean chit to the CJI. It is a bad precedent. I am bewildered to see how thecollective conscience of the Supreme Court judges have not pricked them.
— The writer is SeniorAdvocate, Madras High Court
‘In-house panel decision sets wrong precedent’Â
We believe that inquiry was not held in a fair manner. Not giving a copy of the ex-parte report was totally unfair. For everything, the Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the country, is the role model. If they fail to handle a sexual harassment complaint properly, it will send a wrong signal to the rest of the institutions. How will sexual harassment at the workplace be dealt with in the future? It is a very wrong signal and a wrong precedent. Even now, the SC should reject the committee’s report. There has to be a proper complaints committee to be set up on the lines of Vishakha guideline. A fair inquiry has to be conducted and justice has to be meted out
—U Vasuki, CPM central committee member and V-P of AIDWA
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