A judge from Uttar Pradesh has penned an open letter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, accusing a senior judge and his associates of sexual harassment during her previous posting.
In the letter, she requested Chief Justice Chandrachud’s permission to end her life, expressing despair over her inability to obtain a fair inquiry, let alone justice, in her case.
On Friday, acting upon Chief Justice Chandrachud’s instructions, a communication was forwarded to the Allahabad High Court, seeking the latest status of all complaints filed by the judge, as reported by Bar and Bench.
Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta of the Allahabad High Court has also taken cognisance of the matter, the secretary general of the Supreme Court was informed on Thursday night.
“I have been sexually harassed by one particular District Judge and his associates. I was told to meet the District Judge at night,” read the letter.
The judge mentioned filing complaints with the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice and the administrative judge in 2022, but asserted that no action was taken. She also reported lodging a complaint with the High Court’s Internal Complaints Committee in July 2023, noting, “It took six months and a thousand emails just to initiate an inquiry,” as stated in the letter.
The judge also said that she demanded that the district judge be transferred while the inquiry pending, but her request was not accepted.
The complainant pointed out that the witnesses in the case are subordinates of the district judge, raising concerns about how the committee anticipates them to “testify against their superior.”
