"Highly disappointed and dejected," said the former Supreme Court employee who levelled sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, after the In-House Inquiry Committee gave him a clean chit on Monday.
She said "gross injustice" has been done to her as a woman citizen of India and her "worst fears" have come true shattering all hope of justice and redress from the highest Court of the land.
The woman, who issued a press statement, said that she will consult her lawyer and decide on the next steps.
"Today, I am at the verge of losing faith in the capacity of our system to deliver justice to the weak and vulnerable who are pitted against the powerful within the system itself," she said, adding that the panel refused her plea to allow her to accompany a lawyer and video record the proceedings.
Further, she said she learnt from media that the CJI appeared before the committee to record his statement but she does not have any knowledge whether other persons who were aware of the allegations were called before the panel or not.
Immediately after the office of the apex court's Secretary General came out with the findings of the three-member Committee headed by Justice S A Bobde that "has found no substance" in the allegations of sexual harassment, the woman in a statement, said she was extremely "scared and terrified" because the In- House Committee, has not given her justice or protection and said nothing about the absolutely mala fide dismissals and suspensions.
"I, the woman complainant, a former Supreme Court employee, am not just highly disappointed and dejected to learn that the In-House Committee 'has found no substance' in my complaint, but feel that gross injustice has been done to me as a woman citizen of India.
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"I am now extremely scared and terrified because the In- House Committee, despite having all material placed before them, has given me no justice or protection and said nothing about the absolutely mala fide dismissals and suspensions, indignities and humiliations suffered by me and my family. I and my family members remain vulnerable to the ongoing reprisals and attack," she said in a press statement.
The woman further said that the complaint in the form of an affidavit was sent by her to the Justices of the top court on April 19, 2019 and she was "alarmed" at the conclusion arrived at by the In House Committee, as her accusation of sexual harassment at the workplace and the consequent relentless victimization and reprisals against her and her family, are substantiated by documents and are verifiable.
She said that on April 26, 2019, she had joined the proceedings of the Committee and from the very beginning expressed serious concerns and reservations that the manner in which the proceedings were being conducted would not mitigate the stark asymmetry of power between her and the CJI.
In the release, she said: "Today, my worst fears have come true, and all hope of justice and redress from the highest Court of the land have been shattered. In fact the Committee has announced that I will not even be provided a copy of the report, and so I have no way of comprehending the reasons and basis for the summary dismissal of my Complaint of sexual harassment and victimisation.
"I have already placed my earlier communications with the Committee in the public domain through my press note dated April 30, 2019, when I was compelled to walk out of the Committee proceedings as the Committee had refused to accept even my most basic requests for a fair hearing."
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