CJI Seeks Report On Sexual Harassment Allegations By UP Judge After She Seeks Permission To End Life

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has sought a status report from the Allahabad High Court administration after a purported letter of a woman judge from Uttar Pradesh alleging sexual harassment by a district judge went viral.

A woman civil judge in Banda district has made sexual harassment allegations against a district judge of the state judiciary along with his associates. In the two-page letter, the judge sought the Chief Justice's consent to end her life due to the abuse and harassment she had faced in her professional career while posted in Barabanki, including disturbing incidents involving the district judge in that jurisdiction.

The letter reads, "I joined the Judicial Service with much enthusiasm and the belief that I would dispense Justice to the common folk. What did I know that I'll be soon rendered a beggar for Justice on every door that I go. In the short time of my service I have had the rare Honour of being abused (the dreaded Hindi mother curse word) on Dias in open court. I have been sexually harassed to the very limit. I have been treated like utter garbage. I feel like an unwanted insect. And I hoped to provide justice to others. What Naive me! I wish to tell all the working women in India: Learn to live with sexual harassment. It's a truth of our lives."

The woman judge then claims that the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment, Act (2013) is "a big wholesome lie".

"No one listens, no one bothers. If you complaint, you will be tortured. Be submissive. And, when I mean no one listens, that includes the Supreme Court. You will get eight seconds of hearing, an insult and a threat to impose costs. You will be pushed to commit suicide. And if you are lucky (unlike me), your first attempt at suicide will be successful. If any of the women think that you will fight against the system, let me tell you, I couldn't," the letter reads.

The judge claims that the district judge had requested a meeting with her at night. Despite filing a complaint with the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and the Administrative Judge in 2022, no action has been taken as of today, according to her account.

Subsequently, in July 2023, she lodged a complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee of the High Court.

"It took six months and a thousand emails just to start an enquiry. The proposed enquiry is also a farce and a sham. The witnesses in the enquiry are immediate subordinates of the district judge. How the committee expects the witnesses to depose against their boss is beyond my understanding," she says in her letter.

She further states that she wanted the harasser to be transferred during the inquiry in order to ensure a fair investigation but her petition was dismissed by the apex court in just eight seconds.

"It is even more surprising that this dismissal happened after the High Court had observed that the judicial aspect of the inquiry was being influenced," she says.

"Just one sentence and DISMISSED. I felt like my life, my dignity and my soul have been DISMISSED. It felt like a personal humiliation. The enquiry will now be conducted with the District Judge being in control of all the witnesses. We all know the fate of such an enquiry. What Justice will I give to others when I am myself hopeless? I have no will to live anymore. I have been rendered to a Walking Corpse in the last year and a half. There is no purpose in carrying this soulless and lifeless body around anymore. There is no purpose left in my life. Kindly permit me to end my life in a dignified way. Let my life be: DISMISSED," the letter concludes.

As the letter went viral, Atul M Kurhekar, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court, wrote a letter to the Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday evening, as per the Chief Justice of India's directives. It sought an update on the status of the proceedings within the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) responsible for handling the judge's complaint.