Can’t rule out conspiracy against ex Chief Justice Gogoi: Supreme Court

New Delhi, February 18: The possibility of a conspiracy against former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi cannot be ruled out, the Supreme Court said today, closing an inquiry set up after he was accused of sexual harassment.

The Supreme Court said such a conspiracy could be linked to Justice Gogoi’s decisions, including his views on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and his attempts to streamline the Supreme Court registry, NDTV reported.

The top court’s decision was based on the report of former Justice AK Patnaik, who had been tasked with investigating a larger conspiracy in the allegations against Justice Gogoi and “whether middlemen and fixers working with disgruntled court officials were trying to fix judges”. The inquiry was ordered after lawyer Utsav Bains raised the possibility of a conspiracy in the allegations that surfaced in 2019.

“The Justice Patnaik report acknowledges the existence of a conspiracy against the ex Chief Justice and it cannot be ruled out,” the Supreme Court said, adding that the panel was unable to obtain electronic records.

“Certain tough administrative decisions were taken to streamline the process in the registry,” it said.

The court said the Intelligence Bureau director had said in a report that Justice Gogoi had taken a serious view in cases related to National Register of Citizens and there were “strong reasons to believe some are unhappy with the decision”.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/supreme-court-says-conspiracy-cant-be-ruled-out-against-former-chief-justice-of-india-ranjan-gogoi-closes-case-2373063